


The Day Hell Froze Over

by MsDorisDaisy



Series: The Days of Our Love [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Anxiety, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-18 14:18:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 34,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7318636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsDorisDaisy/pseuds/MsDorisDaisy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The ever-studious nerdy type Lexa Woods is asked to her senior prom by Clarke Griffin, the most popular girl at Arkadia High. Inspired by the Tumblr story prompt "Kill the Cliché: Write about the day that hell freezes over."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Clexa fans, I'm back! After completely losing my muse for the multi-chapter story I had planned to begin writing after wrapping up "Thursday Night", I couldn't stop this little ficlet from pouring out of my fingers after stumbling upon a generic story prompt on Tumblr (as described in the summary). This story will have three parts, about 10k words each, and the upcoming parts will be posted on Wednesday and Friday this week barring any unforeseen business in my RL schedule. As always, I hope you all enjoy!

“Lex, it’s our senior year,” Monty pleaded as he leaned against an unopened locker, “you _have_ to go to prom.”

“Why?” Lexa questioned honestly. “Why do I have to go to prom? Is there some rule book somewhere that states that every senior on planet Earth has to go to prom?”

Monty stared at his best friend, watching silently as she fished out her Calculus textbook from the bottom of her locker and shoved it into her backpack.

“Yes,” Monty replied with a chirp, “and if you don’t, you might end up regretting it later.”

“I can absolutely assure you, beyond any sliver of a doubt, that there is no reason I would ever in a million years find myself regretting not going to my senior prom,” Lexa said confidently as she zipped up her bag and threw it over her shoulder.

She reached to the top shelf in her locker and grabbed her math notebook and calculator, hugging them tightly to her chest, and closed the tall metal door before spinning the combination lock a few times around. She caught Monty’s unimpressed gaze and sighed as she leaned her back against the dark maroon painted lockers.

“You’re not in drama class, so let’s cut the theatrics,” Monty kept his friend in check. “Plus, you can’t promise you won’t regret it anyways.”

“And you can’t promise that I _will_ regret it,” Lexa argued back with a solitary eyebrow raise.

“You would have gone if I would have asked you, right?” Monty asked, deciding to take another tack.

“Yes, but–”

“So why can’t you go with someone else instead?” Monty interrupted eagerly.

“No one else...” Lexa began to say before she trailed off and swallowed thickly. “Because no one else would want to take me.”

Monty’s heart sank in his chest, and he suddenly felt like the biggest tool on the planet for asking Harper last week instead of his best friend who he knew left no extra time in her life to spend time with anyone other than him. They had practically been friends since birth as their fathers were not only co-workers but friends from all the way back to when they shared a college dorm room at University. Monty had struggled for years to break out of his comfort zone and meet new people, but it was at the end of the summer just before their senior year started that he had finally mustered up the courage to talk to Harper at a bonfire on the beach celebrating the upcoming last year of their teenage lives.

“It works out for me anyways,” Lexa quickly added so as to not seem like she was feeling sorry for herself. “The Nexus Rover is being launched that night, and NASA’s streaming it in high definition.”

“Seriously?” Monty asked with an expression of surprise on his face. “I can’t believe I’m going to miss that!”

Lexa snorted out a laugh at her best friend’s disappointment, thinking that he was about to poke fun of her for using a reason that nerdy to justify her desire to stay home from going out and partying all night. They were one in the same, and Lexa always found it so reassuring to be able to share not only her interests but her thoughts, her hopes, her dreams, with someone who reminded her so much of herself. It was comfortable, she was content, and there wasn’t anything more that Lexa wanted to do than not rock the boat on the quiet sea of the little life she had made for herself.

“I guess you should have thought about that before you asked Harper,” Lexa teased with a smirk as she pushed up on her oversized turtle shell glasses so that they rested properly on the bridge of her nose.

“It wouldn’t have stopped me from asking her out,” Monty politely defended himself. “I like her, Lex, and I want... I want you to feel the same way about someone as I do about her.”

Lexa looked at her friend, silently questioning his statement for a moment before Monty continued.

“I want you to have someone you could easily pick spending time with over watching a rover launch on your laptop on a Saturday night,” Monty explained.

“I have you for that,” Lexa replied with a small shrug of her shoulders.

“First of all, we _both_ know that you would never pick me over a NASA launch stream,” Monty clarified, at which Lexa just smiled, “and secondly what I mean is that I want you to have someone who you’d rather make out with instead of watching space videos.”

Lexa furrowed her brow and appeared to be deep in thought for a few moments before she spoke again.

“What about someone I could make out with _while_ watching space videos?” Lexa asked jokingly.

“Ugh,” Monty groaned as he rolled his eyes and tipped his head back in defeat, “just promise me you'll think about going.”

Lexa's quiet chuckle died in her throat as she eyed her best friend who had a serious yet hopeful expression on his face. She let the smile fall from her lips and cleared her throat lightly before pushing herself off of her lockers and heading towards her next class. Monty rolled his eyes at her lack of response and turned to follow her anyways, eventually matching her stride beside her.

Just as they reached the end of the hallway Lexa's gaze caught sight of a friendly smile, but it was the person who was smiling at her that caught her the most off-guard. Her heart hammered in her chest as Lexa fought the urge to look back just to make sure there wasn't someone else behind her who was the actual intended target of the blonde's polite affections, but when she noticed sky blue eyes following her with each step she took Lexa was sure, surprised but sure, that it was she who was indeed the one being smiled at. With a strained swallow to push down the nervous lump that had sprung to her throat, Lexa pulled the corners of her lips into a reciprocating smile for just a few seconds as she stepped past the girl.

“I'm not saying it was Jasper who left the moonshine in the locker room, but come on... like... who else would it be?” Octavia rambled on as she searched through her locker for a book for her next class.

When she didn't get a response, she turned her head to look over at her friend who was wordlessly staring down the hallway. Octavia followed her longing gaze and noticed Lexa's retreating form just before she was about to turn the corner and disappear into a classroom.

“Clarke!” Octavia snapped playfully and giggled when Clarke jumped at the sudden sound of her name. “Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?”

“Yeah,” Clarke answered distractedly. “Moonshine or whatever.”

Octavia just rolled her eyes at the lame response and sighed into her locker.

“So,” the brunette started slowly, “are you really going to ask her?”

“Yeah,” Clarke replied immediately as she looked over at her best friend. “I mean, I think so. I want to.”

“What about Finn?” Octavia asked. “Don't you think he wants to ask you?”

“Hell if I know,” Clarke said with a shrug. “What's your deal with Lexa anyways?”

When Clarke finally decided to tell her best friend that she wanted to take Lexa Woods to the senior prom, she had never been so nervous in her life. They had all grown up together, going to the same school at least, since the first grade. It was more of an unspoken understanding that Monty and Lexa were best friends in the same capacity that Clarke and Octavia were, and it almost gave them all an excuse not to really get to know each other. Their school was big, but not enormous, so not knowing everyone who walked the halls wasn't that out of the realm of possibilities. Except that for Clarke, it was.

She wasn't sure whether it was the fact that her parents were both successful in their careers and well known throughout the community or if it was because of Clarke's stunning blonde hair and blue eyed beauty and friendly personality, but Clarke knew without a doubt that she was one of the popular girls. Not one of those mean popular girls because in all honestly their school didn't really have mean popular kids. Arkadia High was a unique demographic of teenagers with backgrounds of wealth or intelligence, sometimes both, and most of the students attending were more interested in their studies than in cliché high school drama. That wasn't to say it didn't exist at all, but just in far smaller and less noticeable doses.

“I don't have a deal with Lexa,” Octavia replied honestly. “She's just a little...”

Clarke snapped her eyes up to her best friend's almost in a silent heed for her to choose her next words carefully.

“... quiet,” Octavia decided on. “It just might be hard going to prom with someone who doesn't usually speak more than two words at a time.”

“Well, how is that her fault if none of us really know each other?” Clarke asked in a slightly defensive tone. “I mean, she's shy. Shy people don't usually find it easy to converse at length with people they don't know.”

“Then how do you even know she's going to say yes when you ask?” Octavia countered.

“I _don't_ know, Octavia!” Clarke said as her voice tightened with what could only be described as distress. “Why do you think I've been so nervous lately?”

“Alright, alright,” Octavia said as she raised her hands in surrender. “So have you decided _how_ you're going to ask her?”

“No,” Clarke sighed.

“You could do what Lincoln did when he asked me,” Octavia suggested in jest. “Honestly if you painted the word 'prom' on your naked chest, there's no way she would be able to turn you down.”

Clarke snorted out a laugh at the obscenity of the suggestion and wracked her brain for about the hundredth time that week for an idea, any idea, that she could use as a clever way to ask Lexa to go to the prom with her. It was school tradition for seniors to ask their prospective dates out in fun and imaginative ways like taping a giant sign on their garage, or filling their locker with roses or those tiny little sweetheart candies, or painting their request on their chest (as Lincoln had so boldly done) and running alongside the track runners as they practiced and trying to out-sprint them.

Asking her secret crush out was just about the most nerve-wracking thing Clarke had ever been faced with doing in her entire life, but she wanted it to be spectacular, and hopefully the more spectacular it was the harder it would be for Lexa to turn her down. At least that was what Clarke was hoping would happen. She had no idea whether Lexa even liked her that way, so asking her right out of the blue like she was planning on doing was risky. But it was a risk that Clarke was willing to take no matter what her nerves told her.

“Yeah, pretty sure I'm not going to show her my boobs before I even ask her out,” Clarke said.

“Just keep your bra on,” Octavia suggested with a shrug.

Clarke gave her a glare, and Octavia just sighed before slamming her locker shut.

“Have you been stalking her on social media like I told you to?” Octavia asked.

“A little, yeah,” Clarke admitted.

“And?” Octavia urged. “What did you find out?”

“She likes space,” Clarke said with a small huff. “Pretty much all of her likes and posts revolve around something having to do with astronomy.”

“I got it!” Octavia screeched as she snapped her fingers loudly, getting the attention of a few other students around them. “Rent a rocket ship.”

“O...”

“No, I'm serious!” Octavia teased. “Drive it up into space and then drop yourself back down in one of those triangle pod things with the giant parachute and write 'Lexa Prom?' on it!”

Clarke glared at her best friend yet again but said nothing, hoping that Octavia would get the hint a shut the hell up with the fake suggestions. It seemed to work because the two got back on track quickly as they began walking down the hallway towards their next class together.

“Okay, what else besides space?” Octavia asked. “That can't possibly be the only thing she likes.”

“I don't knooow,” Clarke whined as she slumped her shoulders and swayed with each slow step she took.

“Come on, Clarke,” Octavia called out her friend, “you must know enough about her to know that you like her, so spill it!”

“She likes space,” Clarke repeated with a hint of annoyance in her tone. “She gets straight A's without even trying. Her best friend is Monty Green who she has known for her entire life. She broke her wrist in the third grade when she fell off her bike, which my mom told me about when she saw her in the hospital getting her cast on. I sent her a get well soon card.”

_I wonder if she still has it._

“She has an older sister named Anya, and her Dad's name is Gustus. Isn't that a weird name?” Clarke asked as her eyebrows stitched together, and Octavia just shrugged.

“She has green eyes,” Clarke continued and let her mind wander back to picture them, “deep green... like the color of the forest.”

“Well, you officially know some pretty random things about her,” Octavia announced before pulling out her phone and unlocking it with a quick swipe of her thumb. “Is she on Instagram?”

“I don't know, why?” Clarke asked curiously.

“Because the photographs one takes usually say a lot about oneself,” Octavia said dramatically as if she was some famous and incredibly perceptive philosopher.

Clarke's eyebrows shot up at her friend's unusually clever idea and walked in silence as Octavia tapped away on her phone, presumably searching the photo sharing website for any trace of Lexa's name. As soon as the brunette let out a whoop of discovery, Clarke craned her neck to look over at Octavia's phone as she scrolled through what looked like dozens, maybe hundreds, of images. Almost all of them were nature scenes: brilliant sunsets, delicate flowers, rushing rivers, and dense forests. They were crisp and clear, all taken from different angles and all breathtakingly beautiful in their composition. If Clarke hadn't known whose name was associated with the pictures, she would have figured it was a professional photographer's online portfolio.

“I got it,” Clarke said as she gasped and wrapped her hand around Octavia's forearm. “I got it! I got it!”

* * *

 

“Hey, kid,” Gustus said with a smile as he saw his youngest daughter trudge into the kitchen.

“Hey, Dad,” Lexa said with a small smile of her own before plopping her backpack into the counter top and opening the refrigerator for a small afternoon snack.

“How was school?” He asked as he set his newspaper down and looked up at Lexa.

“It was fine,” Lexa replied with a shrug.

_More like amazing. The most beautiful and most popular girl at school smiled at me, **me** , so my life is pretty much complete._

“Monty's coming over in an hour to start working on a project for our history class,” Lexa informed her dad as she uncapped a bottle of sweet tea and took a few sips.

“It's Friday, Lexa,” Gustus pointed out. “You should be out making mischief, not upstairs studying.”

“Most parents would prefer their children not to let their education go to waste,” Lexa quipped with a raised eyebrow.

“Most parents don't have to remind their children to be children,” Gustus shot back with his own brow raise. “Go out, Lexa. Meet some new people. Have some fun.”

“We're preparing our side of a mock trial between the United States and the Nazi party correlating to the real life cases brought forth in the Nuremberg Trials,” Lexa recited. “That sounds a hell of a lot more fun to me than getting wasted at a bonfire.”

“You are not my child,” Gustus teased with feigned seriousness as he shook his head disapprovingly.

Lexa's lips curled into a smile as she lifted her tea to her mouth and took another healthy gulp.

“And I'm not telling you to go participate in underage drinking, Lexa,” her father clarified, “I'm just suggesting you go out and do something... teenagery.”

“Teenagery?” Lexa repeated questioningly.

“Yeah, like bowling,” Gustus suggested, and Lexa's face scrunched up. “A movie? Swimming at the beach?”

Lexa shrugged off all of the suggestions and fiddled with the bottle cap between the fingers on her left hand. If she was being honest with herself, none of those suggestions sounded remotely interesting to her and it almost made her wonder whether she had been doing this teenage life thing wrong all these years. Normal teenagers are interested in those types of activities, weren't they?

“What about if you and Monty went out to dinner instead?” Gustus suggested. “I'll pay.”

Lexa thought for a short moment and opened her mouth to speak.

“I'll take you up on that,” she said as her father's eyes lit up, “but instead of going out, we can just have the pizza delivered here so that we don't interrupt our work flow.”

“Fine,” Gustus sighed. “So... do you have a date for the prom yet?”

The eye roll Lexa gave her father as she swallowed her swig of tea was just about the most dramatic she had ever done.

“Seriously, Dad?” Lexa asked. “You too?”

“Me too, what?” Gustus wondered aloud. “Me too like someone has already asked you about it?”

“Yes,” Lexa replied, “you sound just like Monty.”

“Monty... asked you... to the prom?” Gustus asked slowly as his eyes narrowed in confusion. “I mean, he's a sweet kid but not really your type, don't you think?”

“No, he didn't ask me,” Lexa clarified with a smaller roll of her eyes. “He was just bugging me about it earlier.”

“And did you decide?” Gustus asked with a hopeful expression on his face.

He had been there for his eldest daughter's senior prom, taking pictures and gushing about how beautiful she looked, before she was being whisked away in a sleek black limousine only to return at two o'clock the next morning. He wasn't worried about what she had gotten up to. Teenagers would be teenagers no matter what, and he trusted Anya and her group of friends not to get into too much trouble. He was even more fortunate that his younger daughter seemed practically incapable of getting into trouble, so the thought of her going to prom and actually having a little non-educational fun was an exciting prospect for him.

“Yes, I decided the moment I was old enough to form a coherent thought that I wouldn't waste my valuable time by going to my senior prom,” Lexa told him defensively.

It really wasn't only that she didn't want to go to prom –well, okay she didn't _really_ want to– but it was more because of the fact that she had no friends. Lexa _knew_ she had no friends, and it wasn't a problem for _her_. She didn't need friends to feel complete, she didn't need friends to feel loved, she didn't need them. Taking it a step even further, Lexa was convinced that friends or potential friends simply didn't need her. It wasn't like she had a whole lot to offer other than astronomy and photography knowledge. She was the epitome of a nerd, and only other nerds were friends with fellow nerds right?

“I'll pay for your dress,” Gustus offered hopefully.

“It's not about money, Dad,” Lexa explained as she straightened her glasses. “I have plenty saved up from my summer tutoring sessions.”

“Then what is it?” Gustus asked his daughter quietly. “Why don't you want to go?”

_Because no one will ask me, Dad. Please don't make me say it out loud._

“It's just not my thing,” Lexa quietly replied as she looked down to her bottle of tea.

Gustus frowned and took off his glasses as he studied the downcast expression on his daughter's face. He could read well enough to know that she wasn't being completely honest with him, but what he wasn't sure of was why. He sighed quietly and sat for a few more moments before her opened his mouth to speak.

“Let me know when you guys want me to order the pizza,” he finally said and watched intently as his daughter raised her head and met his gaze.

“Thanks, Dad,” she said as Gustus stood and rounded the kitchen counter to wrap his arms around Lexa's shoulders.

“I love you, kid,” he said before kissing the top of her head.

“Get off,” Lexa teased as she tried to shove her father away from her, barely being able to move him even after putting some muscle behind it.

She resisted the urge to laugh when he retaliated with a small shove to her shoulder that sent her clear across the kitchen and stumbling for her balance. Gustus smiled fondly at his daughter before grabbing his newspaper once again and heading outside onto the porch to read the rest of it. Lexa sighed in relief when her dad had finally dropped the prom talk and shrugged one strap of her backpack onto her shoulder and headed upstairs to her bedroom.

**Monty Green: Should I pick up a poster board?**

**Lexa Woods: Probably a good idea.**

**Monty Green: Okay, be there in twenty.**

Lexa smiled and dimmed her screen before setting her phone onto her desk and unpacking her backpack, stacking everything into neat piles according to subject. She thankfully didn't have much homework in her other classes so that she could focus on her presentation with Monty all weekend. They didn't have to present it to the class until the middle of the upcoming week, but Lexa wanted to make sure she was fully prepared as she did with everything else in her life. Little did she know that by the end of the night, her life would be turned up-side-down.

* * *

 

“What the–” Octavia yelled as she batted away a buzzing insect that was flying around her head. “Ew... fucking... get away from me!”

Clarke chuckled as she looked over her shoulder to see Octavia furiously swatting at something in the air. They had taken a smaller side trail deep into the woods at a local park and nature reserve that Clarke had found through a quick research session on her phone during their last class period before the school day had ended. Somehow Octavia never imagined there being so much... nature... in nature and began to regret her agreeing to help Clarke after being bribed with dinner at their favorite diner afterwards.

“Tell me again why I agreed to help you do this?” Octavia asked with a tone of annoyance lacing her voice.

“Because you're my best friend, and that's what best friends do,” Clarke told her, “and I bribed you with food which always works.”

“Yeah, well hurry up, Clarke,” Octavia warned just as her stomach began to grumble loudly, “I’m starving.”

“I need to find the perfect thing to put in the background,” Clarke said as she continued tramping along the dirt pathway as her eyes scanned everything to the left and right of her.

“How about a tree?” Octavia suggested as she swatted the air again.

“I could have taken a picture of a tree anywhere, O,” Clarke told her. “I wouldn't have brought you all the way out here to take a picture of a tree.”

“I'm starting to think you brought me all the way out here so that you could kill me,” Octavia teased in a serious tone.

“No way!” Clarke exclaimed dramatically. “Who would share a Burgerus Giganticus with me at the diner if you were dead?”

“I don't know... maybe... _Lexa_?” Octavia said as she accented the girl's name heavily.

“She has to agree to the prom date first,” Clarke pointed out, “then we can talk murder plans.”

Octavia just rolled her eyes but said nothing in response to her best friend's joke, opting instead to throw out a few more suggestions to try and hurry the process along.

“What about a bird?”

“I didn't see many pictures of birds on her page,” Clarke answered thoughtfully.

“You don't think she'd appreciate a picture of a pile of ants, do you?” Octavia asked as she watched herself step over a giant ant hill, careful not to squish any of the tiny creatures accidentally.

“Probably not,” Clarke replied as her focus narrowed in on a small clearing ahead that was being bathed with golden sunlight.

“A flower?” Octavia asked as she shrugged her shoulders.

Sure it was a little cliché but no girl hated flowers, right?

“That's a good idea actually,” Clarke said as her eyebrows peaked in interest. “There's a purple one I noticed in a bunch of her pictures.”

“Like those over there?” Octavia asked as she pointed towards the sunny clearing.

“Yes!” Clarke agreed as soon as she spotted where Octavia had been pointing and all but ran over towards them.

The brunette just rolled her eyes and followed slowly behind, not in any particular hurry to go look at a bunch of wildflowers growing in a field. She did let a small smile curl at the corners of her lips as she watched Clarke bounce around the flowers, gazing at them from every angle and height imaginable, before reaching into her bag to pull out the small notebook she had pressed her note in to keep from getting crumpled up during the drive to the park and the hike through the park. She helped Clarke balance the small note on top of the flower's tiny leaves so that it appeared to be suspended in the air and hovering just under the bright purple bloom of the flowers themselves.

“Hurry the hell up, Griffin!” Octavia finally heard herself whine as she heard the shutter of the blonde's camera go off for what seemed like the hundredth time.

In reality Clarke had _only_ taken about thirty pictures, but she was determined to get the best angle and natural light combination that she could in the hopes that it would really impress Lexa. The girl was only a title away from being a professional photographer, and there was nothing more intimidating than trying to duplicate one's craft and do it well.

“I think I'm done,” Clarke said as she looked down at her camera's screen and flipped through the preview images.

Octavia tipped her head back and rolled her eyes when Clarke bent down again and took a trio of pictures in quick succession from an angle she must have thought she hadn't gotten before, but her spirits were lifted when she saw Clarke pluck the note from the flower and slide it back into her bag. She couldn't help the smile that crept over her face when she finally caught Clarke's gaze and noticed the blindingly bright smile of her own pulling on both sides of her mouth.

“Satisfied?” Octavia dared to ask as Clarke made her way back towards her.

“Actually,” Clarke began to say as she turned towards the flowers once again.

“Don't you dare, Clarke Griffin!” Octavia warned with a stern index finger pointed out towards her friend.

“I'm just joking, O,” Clarke said through a hearty laugh, “calm down.”

Octavia glared at the blonde as she walked past her and finally pulled her hand back down to swing by her side for just a second before she had to bat away another disgusting winged creature that was flying around her head. They began the moderate trek out of the woods, and Octavia silently praised Mother Nature for getting her back to Clarke’s truck without much more than a few mosquito bites. They chatted and sang as they made their way to their favorite diner and found themselves sitting together and hovering over their food very shortly thereafter.

“So what are you going to say in your post?” Octavia asked while she chomped on another french fry.

“Nothing,” Clarke said before she wiped her mouth with her napkin, “I'm going to let the picture speak for itself.”

“Oh, how photographer-like of you,” Octavia said through a mouthful of food before shoving even more in.

“Well, I don't really need to say anything since the note kind of says it all,” Clarke said as she pulled out her phone.

“I'm right here, Clarke,” Octavia teased, “we all know the only people who ever text you are me and your mother, and I'm pretty sure you're never more eager to talk to her than to eat a cheeseburger.”

“I'm just looking through her pictures again, Miss Pain In My Ass,” Clarke quipped as she turned her attention back to her phone. “Do you think she uses filters on these?”

“Probably not,” Octavia replied. “She seems too talented to need to use any. You on the other hand...”

“Shut it, O,” Clarke warned, “or I'm not paying for dinner.”

Octavia closed her mouth and pretended to zip it closed with her fingers before diving back into her half of the enormous cheeseburger that she and her best friend always split when they eat at the diner. It was the best one in the city, and they made sure to indulge in it at least a few times a month while they were still young and their metabolisms were still fast enough to handle it. Octavia shifted her gaze back to Clarke who looked to be bouncing her leg frantically under the table at the booth they were sitting at, and she squinted her eyes as she studied the look on Clarke's face.

Fear. Terror. Anxiety. Nervousness.

“What's wrong, Clarke?” Octavia asked after she swallowed her big bite of food.

The blonde said nothing and didn't look up from her phone, but instead she just shook her head from side to side.

“Seriously, C,” Octavia said as she lowered her burger back onto the plate.

“I'm just–what if...” Clarke stammered before taking a deep breath. “What if she says no?”

“I don't think she will,” Octavia said, trying to reassure her best friend but not actually knowing anything about Lexa didn't make her all too confident in her answers.

“But what if she does?” Clarke asked again.

“Honestly Clarke, I don't know what to tell you,” Octavia began cautiously, “all I can say is that you won't know unless you ask.”

Clarke nodded a few times as she held a french fry in midair, seemingly lost in thought, until Octavia piped up and brought her back to reality.

“Focus, Griff,” Octavia told her as she snapped her fingers, “we're meeting people in like ten minutes, so quit zoning and start eating.”

* * *

 

“We are going to destroy the US government in this trial,” Monty said triumphantly as he leaned back in his chair to look at the work they had done so far.

The poster board he had picked up on his way over to Lexa’s house was completely filled with strategies, questions and answers, facts, and important people and dates that outlined the overall slant of their case in favor of the Nazi party. It certainly wasn't that they chose that particular stance but rather what was assigned to them as half of the class had to argue against the Nazis in favor of the US government and the other half had to argue against the US government in favor of the Nazis. The side Monty and Lexa were assigned was clearly the more difficult of the two, but they were always ready for a challenge.

“We are,” Lexa agreed as her eyes flitted over the board and checking for any missing information.

“Can I have this last slice?” Monty asked as he pointed to the nearly empty pizza box sitting atop Lexa's desk.

“Sure, I'm full anyways,” Lexa replied as she thumbed through her history book.

“So I wanted to ask you something,” Monty said after a few seconds passed while he chewed his bite of food. “Do you think I should rent a limo for Harper? For prom night?”

At that Lexa looked up from her lap and over to her friend, not entirely sure how to respond. On the one hand even _she_ was aware that renting a limousine for a date on prom night was actually pretty normal, but on the other hand she wasn’t sure what a rental for the night might cost and almost wondered if it would just be a waste of her best friend's money. If it was her going to the prom, she wouldn't want the fuss of a limo. Just being with her date, no matter by what means they traveled, would be enough for her. Not that she was interested in going or would have someone to actually go with, but simply for argument's sake...

“Do you think she would be disappointed if you didn't?” Lexa decided on asking.

“I don't think so,” Monty said honestly, “but I also don't want her to feel left out if all of her other friends take limos and we don't.”

“You could ask some of her friends' dates what they plan on doing,” Lexa suggested, “and just do what they do.”

“I don't really know her friends enough to know who their dates even are,” Monty replied weakly before taking another small bite of his pizza slice.

“Well, how much is it to rent one for the night?” Lexa asked, almost afraid to know the answer.

“About fifty bucks an hour,” Monty said with a glimmer of hesitation in his eyes.

“Well, I think if you're comfortable paying what it costs to rent one then you should just rent one,” Lexa told her friend, “unless you're not comfortable with the cost or it's just really not something you're into.”

“She's cool with me wearing a suit instead of renting a tux,” Monty explained, “so I'm already saving some money there.”

“Look, Monty,” Lexa interjected with a small smirk on her face, “I think we both know that you want to rent a limo for her, so just do it. You know it'll make her happy that you put in the little bit of extra effort.”

“You're right,” Monty said with a wide grin.

“I'm always right,” Lexa teased as she turned her attention back to her book.

“Don't let this one go to your head, Woods,” Monty warned her playfully, “we all remember who out-scored who on the math and science section of the SAT test.”

“And she remembers precisely who out-scored _whom_ on the English section,” Lexa quipped as she made a dig at her best friend's incorrect grammar.

“English? Pfft,” Monty teased. “No one cares about English.”

“Just the entire country of North America and the other forty-nine countries around the world who also partake in the language,” Lexa quipped with a her smirk still firmly in place.

“You can barely even count the US in that statistic anymore,” Monty argued. “The composition of all the languages _other_ than English spoken here almost overtakes the number of English-speaking citizens.”

“An official language of a country would not change unless a singular language superseded the majority of what is spoken,” Lexa debated back.

“Are you two seriously arguing about language?” Gustus interjected from the hallway as he walked past Lexa's partially opened bedroom door.

Even though she and Monty had more of a brother/sister relationship and Monty was clearly nor her type, as her own father had just pointed out earlier that afternoon, it was a house rule not to close a bedroom door if there was more than one person in the room which is why Gustus had overheard their debate as he walked down the hallway past his daughter’s bedroom on his way to his own. Lexa just chuckled as Monty rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Dad,” Lexa said as she watched her father appear in the doorway, “isn't that better than us playing a two person version of spin the bottle up here?”

“I would have to agree with you on that one,” Gustus said as his eyebrows raised upwards. “Monty, I trust you will find your way out of my daughter's room before eleven?”

“Yes, sir,” Monty answered quickly. “I was going to head out in just a few minutes.”

“Alright,” Gustus replied as he nodded his head once, “I'm sure I will see you later.”

“Goodnight, sir,” Monty replied with a half-wave, half-salute at which Lexa just giggled.

She glanced down at her phone as it vibrated just a few times against the surface of her desk before lifting her gaze back up to her best friend's and shaking her head amusedly.

“What?” Monty questioned with a confused look on his face.

“Yes sir, goodnight sir,” Lexa imitated him, “you sound like you were almost just caught with your hand up my shirt.”

“Oh gross, Lex,” Monty said with a faint look of disgust on his face, “please don't give me that visual.”

Lexa's expression turned to dramatic shock and offense as she leaped off her chair and slammed her heavy history book onto Monty's upper arm while he did nothing but laugh in surprise.

“What?! It's not like you would enjoy it anyways,” Monty teased knowingly.

“Ass,” Lexa mumbled as she flopped herself back down into her chair and set her book aside.

“You know I love you,” Monty said as he stood from his chair, “just not in that way.”

“I, on the other hand, often wonder why the hell I’ve even put up with you for so long,” Lexa teased.

“Oh, believe me,” Monty began as he slid his backpack onto his shoulder, “ _that_ feeling is mutual.”

Lexa just chuckled and stood up from her chair to start picking up the markers, paper, and research notes they had used while creating their project board, and she threw a few pieces of trash into the now empty pizza box before grabbing it in her hands to take it downstairs and out to the trash. She walked behind Monty as they made their way out the front door and said their goodbyes, promising to meet up by Sunday to practice a trial run of their presentation before the business of the school week came upon them again.

As soon as she got back up to her bedroom, she closed the door behind her and slipped out of the clothes she had been wearing all day to snuggle into something a little more comfortable for the lounging she was preparing to do for a couple of hours before going to sleep. Lexa was a rare combination of a night owl _and_ a morning person, never really having needed much sleep at all, but she did like to relax during the weekends and tap into her normally dormant lazy side from time to time. She grabbed her phone from the desk and flopped down onto her bed, unlocking it quickly only to find a notification on the status bar at the top of her screen. It looked like a small camera of some sort, and it was something Lexa wasn’t used to seeing. She clicked on it and was immediately routed to her Instagram application where she saw an orange bubble with the number one inside.

_Someone tagged me?_

A small smile began to tug at the corners of Lexa’s mouth as she quickly navigated around the app to find the picture she had been tagged in, and she wondered excitedly who it was who tagged her and what it might possibly be about. Was it a fellow photographer? Maybe Monty had finally broke down and installed the app, and this was his way of telling her. Dozens of possibilities swarmed through her head in the few seconds it took her to finally lay her eyes on a picture of a purple flower and a note with a single word written on it.

Prom, with a question mark.

“What the...” Lexa whispered as her eyes darted around the picture, reading and rereading the word so many times that it started to not even look like a word anymore.

Her heart began hammering in her chest as she looked down at the username of the person who had tagged her in their picture. @MsGriffster wasn’t someone Lexa had ever heard of and given that she only had only a few people who she followed it was easy to figure out quickly that this was someone Lexa didn’t know. Or did she? Literally the only person who shared somewhat of a similar name with the username that had tagged her own was Clarke **Griff** in, but the implication that Clarke Griffin and @MsGriffster were one in the same was simply absurd.

Right?

A few quick taps on her phone brought her to the main image feed for the mysterious @MsGriffster, and there was nothing Lexa could do to stop herself from widening her eyes as her heart slammed into her chest and then almost stopped beating altogether. A light prickling sensation rose to the tops of her ears and down to the base of her skull as a culmination of confusion, disbelief, shock, anger, and embarrassment washed over her. This couldn’t possibly be happening.

Clarke Griffin, arguably the most popular and clearly the most beautiful student in the entire school, had tagged Lexa Woods, arguably the most studious and clearly the most nerdy student in the entire school, in a photo asking her to the senior prom. The absolute first thing that had entered Lexa’s mind as soon as the initial shock of the situation cleared was that this must be some kind of seriously sick joke being played on her. The students at Arkadia High weren’t known to be bullies, so the idea that Clarke was somehow trying to manipulate her into getting her hopes up about being asked out by the popular girl was infuriating and, quite frankly, extremely disappointing. She had always thought of Clarke Griffin as being one of those _nice_ popular kids, but this all but proved that actually the contrary was true.

Lexa scrolled through Clarke’s pictures, taking a mental note of the inordinate amount of selfies this girl posted, and knew immediately due to the fact that she was in just about every picture that this Instagram account did in fact belong to Clarke Griffin herself. Unless... maybe it was a fake account? Would her friends stoop so low as to set something as devious and elaborate as this to lure her into agreeing to accepting a fake invitation to the prom only to sit and laugh at her when she accepted? Were they hoping she would run into the school and confront Clarke in front of everyone, excited and flattered that the most popular girl in the school asked her out, and then point and make fun when Clarke rejected her?

As her blood began to boil, Lexa clicked on the picture of the purple flower again and searched for any sign that she had misunderstood. She checked the tagged username, it was hers. She checked if there was anyone else tagged, there was not. She checked for a ‘just kidding!’ in the description, it wasn’t there. The photo itself actually looked good, really good, and Lexa almost let herself think it was a waste of a great photo for a cruel joke. She quickly closed the app with a loud sigh and flicked over to her contacts list, swiping her finger over her sister’s phone number. It was a Friday night and Anya was most likely out partying, but Lexa couldn’t think of anyone else to call. Of course Monty was her best friend, but it was something Lexa felt like she would rather have another woman’s opinion on this time.

_“Hey, Lex!”_

“Hey,” Lexa stated weakly into the phone, “are you busy?”

_“Nope, just hanging out with a few friends at the apartment. What’s up?”_

“I, uh...” Lexa hesitated as she heard chatter in the background, “can we... talk in private?”

_“Sure, hang on.”_

Lexa swallowed and began pacing around her room as she listened to her sister walk from where she figured she was in the living room into her bedroom and heard the sound of a door closing a few moments later.

_“What’s up? You got me kind of worried here...”_

“Well, I’m either going insane or I’m living in some kind of giant hallucination,” Lexa blurted out as she continued pacing.

_“Are you high? What did you take?”_

“No, Anya,” Lexa said as she closed her eyes and shook her head, “I’m not high.”

_“Well, what’s going on then?”_

“Apparently,” Lexa began slowly, “I was just asked to the senior prom.”

_“Wha– seriously? Who asked?”_

“Her name is Clarke,” Lexa sighed as she slowed her pace and came to a stop in the middle of her bedroom.

_“Okay, so... do you not like her?”_

“No, she’s,” Lexa thought for a moment, “incredible, but how can she _not_ be considering she’s the most popular girl in the entire school?”

_“Maybe you need to dumb it down for me a little then, because it sounds like you were just asked to your senior prom by an incredible girl that you like. What’s the problem?”_

“She’s the most popular girl in school!” Lexa repeated herself. “Why the hell would she want to go with me for any reason other than to set me up for some kind of demented joke that she and her friends can laugh at when I come showing up to the party like I actually have a date with her?”

_“Seriously, Lex? What is with you hating on yourself like this? Do you really think a girl who you describe as ‘incredible’ would even be capable of doing that to you?”_

“It’s the only way to explain it,” Lexa said with absolute conviction.

_“Alright, let’s look at this objectively. How long have you two known each other?”_

“Since the first grade,” Lexa said with a sigh, “but it’s not like we have been friends since then.”

_“But you’re friends now?”_

“No!” Lexa exclaimed. “Not even close! She smiled at me this morning when I walked by her in the hallway, which was probably the most interaction we’ve had our entire high school careers.”

_“Okay, do you have any classes together?”_

“Not this year,” Lexa replied quickly.

_“So maybe she’s just been too nervous to ask you out and thought senior prom would be a good excuse?”_

“Highly unlikely,” Lexa said. “Everyone in the school knows that she and this guy, Finn, are an unofficial item. Trust me when I say that I’m the last person to keep up with the romantic lives of fellow students, but even I was predicting Finn and Clarke would go to the prom together. They’re almost the very definition of prom king and queen.”

_“So what? Maybe she doesn’t like him anymore.”_

“Again, unlikely,” Lexa replied quietly.

_“Listen, Lexa, I know you’re not the most sociable person at school, or anywhere really but that doesn’t mean that someone, popular or not, wouldn’t want to ask you out.”_

Lexa sighed loudly into the phone but said nothing, and Anya spoke again.

_“What did you tell her?”_

“What do you mean?” Lexa asked, confused about the question partly because her mind was somewhere else.

_“When she asked you? Did you say yes?”_

“Oh... I haven’t answered yet,” Lexa said with a shrug.

_“How did she ask you? Was it some big romantic gesture?”_

“She took a picture of a flower with a note underneath that said prom,” Lexa explained to her sister, “and then she posted it to her Instagram and tagged me in it.”

_“That’s cute! She knows you enough to know that you like photography at least. I think you should go for it.”_

“Anya, I’m not going to set myself up to be made fun of by her friends,” Lexa argued back.

_“Then why did you call me?”_

“I... wanted to... ask your opinion on how I should tell her no,” Lexa stammered, not believing that she truly wanted to turn Clarke down. Rejecting someone’s offer of a date was something she never ever thought she would have to do.

_“Well, let me go on record to say that I really think you should reconsider, but if you’re so adamant not to go then I would just find her at school and tell her face-to-face.”_

Lexa gulped as her heart began to pump faster as she thought about having to reject Clarke’s offer, whether it was genuine or not, and she felt herself dreading that moment already. She knew that if it was some kind of sick joke and she turned her down before anyone could get their satisfaction of watching Lexa get her hopes up, it would taste like a sweet, sweet victory on her tongue. On the other hand if Clarke actually did want to go with her and she turned her down, how could Lexa possibly deliver such news and forgive herself for the heartbreak she would cause? Lexa knew if it was her who was asking someone out and they said no, it would probably crush her in ways she never knew she could be crushed which is precisely why she had so expertly avoided that scenario thus far in her life.

_“Earth to Lex!”_

“I’m here,” Lexa replied after Anya had snapped her out of her thoughts.

_“Take the weekend to think about it and talk to her on Monday. Either way. Just remember while you’re thinking about it not to sell yourself short. You’re intelligent and thoughtful and happen to have a body that this girl wants to bang.”_

“I hate you,” Lexa growled into the phone as she rolled her eyes and felt her face light up in a deep blush.

_“Love you too! Let me know how it turns out.”_

“Bye,” Lexa said and quickly ended the call.

She huffed out another long sigh and flipped her phone down onto her bed and though she couldn’t be sure, Lexa figured she looked at the photo she had been tagged in about twenty or so more times before she fell asleep with her phone in her hand and a the slightest whisper of a smile on her lips.

* * *

 

“You ready for the trial today?” Monty asked after he sidled up next to his best friend just before the first period warning bell rang overhead.

“Absolutely,” Lexa replied confidently as she swung her backpack over her shoulder and closed her locker. “The opposing side doesn’t stand a chance.”

“My sentiments exactly,” Monty agreed as he turned and began walking beside Lexa towards their respective classrooms. “I hope we get to litigate against Murphy and crew. They could stand to be taken down more than a few pegs.”

“It would be nice,” Lexa agreed, “especially since they probably think that the trial will be easier to win since they’re opposing the Nazis.”

“Oh, how true is that?” Monty asked rhetorically.

Lexa just smiled and hugged her English book against her chest as she walked past the very spot she and Clarke had shared a smile the previous week only to find that Clarke wasn’t there. In fact she hadn’t seen the blonde in that spot _since_ that day which struck Lexa as especially odd since that’s where she knew her locker was. Monday had come and gone with no sign of Clarke, something that Lexa had silently rejoiced over when she realized that she got to wait one more day before confronting her with her rejection of her prom proposal. But one more day turned into two more days, and Lexa was wondering by the third day whether Clarke was out ill or whether she was avoiding her.

She and Monty waved at each other and shared a friendly smile as they separated and entered into different classrooms  just across from each other on opposite sides of the hallway. English was one of her favorite subjects, partly because learning the subject matter came so naturally to her and partly because she enjoyed her teacher in that class above most others in the school. As Lexa sat down at her assigned desk, she couldn’t help but feel as though she was being watched and wasn’t at all surprised when she looked up to see someone staring back at her as they walked over in her direction. What she _was_ surprised about was _who_ it was who was approaching her.

“Hey, Lexa,” Octavia greeted with a polite smile.

Lexa’s paranoia kicked in instantly as she watched the brunette slide into the desk in front of her and angle herself backwards to maintain eye contact. She suddenly remembered that the girl had said hello to her, even used her name, and she hadn’t said anything back. Lexa managed to flash her own polite smile to the brunette who was still staring at her and waited for the conversation, or whatever was about to happen, to happen.

“I know we don’t really know each other, but I’m Octavia,” the girl said as she gestured towards herself.

Lexa knew who she was. She more than knew who she was, but how could someone not know who Octavia Blake was? She was almost, if not equally, as popular as Clarke and they were seen together more times than not.

“So Clarke doesn’t actually know that I’m talking to you right now,” Octavia began wearily, “but I kind of have something really urgent to discuss with you.”

“That being?” Lexa asked calmly, feeling surprised by the steadiness in her own voice.

“You have _got_ to give her an answer,” Octavia finally said as her eyes widened. “She’s been a worthless pile of nerves since she posted that picture on Friday, and honestly I don’t know how much more of it I can take.”

Lexa blinked in shock.

“I keep telling her that you don’t seem like the kind of person to just blow another person off without so much as an explanation,” Octavia continued, “but she is going crazy having not heard anything from you for almost an entire week.”

Lexa swallowed at what she thought was realization sinking in that Clarke had actually been avoiding her, nervous about her answer, and was maybe–possibly–actually hoping for an acceptance.

“So, can you just do us both a favor and tell her what your answer is?” Octavia asked as she raised her eyebrows hopefully. “Like ASAP?”

Lexa studied the expression on the other girl’s face for a few seconds before blinking and nodding lightly a few times. Her agreement, although silent and weak, was more than enough to send a smile to brighten Octavia’s face before she stood from the desk she was currently in and making her way to the front of the classroom where he own assigned seat was. Lexa’s confused sigh was drowned out by the bell ringing overhead, and she slumped back into her chair to spend her first ever English period not paying attention to anything said the entire duration of the class.

Luckily she hadn’t seen Clarke before her history presentation, which went off without a hitch and proved highly amusing to Monty and herself as they had indeed been squared off against John Murphy and his equally as arrogant partner only to be absolutely obliterated, but as the day drew to a close Lexa began to grow increasingly nervous about the prospect of seeing Clarke and suddenly not knowing _what_ her answer was going to be. She couldn’t tell whether she was relieved or disappointed that she hadn’t seen the blonde that entire day and found herself trudging home with feet feeling just about as heavy as her mind.

**Monty Green: Harper agrees with me.**

Lexa looked at down at her phone and sighed. She had finally told Monty about Clarke’s unexpected prom proposal, and after the initial shock had worn off Monty had insisted that she was reading way too far into the situation. His words echoed Anya’s, and Lexa began to wonder even more if Clarke actually _was_ being truthful in her desire to take her to the prom. She shook her head as if to clear out the nonsense swirling around in her mind and took a cleansing breath. If Clarke really did want this, if she really did see the prom as a good excuse, if she really would be disappointed if Lexa said no, maybe Lexa should be the one taking a risk too. As much as the thought of the most popular girl in school asking the nerdiest girl sounded ridiculous to her, Lexa finally began to let her walls start slipping down as she thought about how immeasurably wonderful it would be to spend the entire night in the arms of the most beautiful girl she had ever seen in her entire life.

“Hey, kid,” Gustus greeted familiarly as Lexa made her way into the kitchen.

“Hey,” Lexa replied softly before turning towards the staircase to head up to her bedroom.

“Wait,” Gustus stopped her, “how did your trail go?”

“We won,” Lexa told him, “by a lot.”

“That’s my girl,” Gustus replied with a proud smile and lowered his gaze back down to his newspaper.

“Dad?” Lexa said as she took a deep breath.

“Hmmm?” Gustus hummed as he kept his head lowered.

“Would it be cool if I headed to the park for a little while?” Lexa asked hesitantly, and Gustus immediately turned his eyes up to look at his daughter. “I’m a little worn out from the trial, and I just need some time to clear my head.”

“Absolutely,” Gustus replied as he looked carefully at Lexa, trying to notice if anything seemed like it was troubling her.

“Thanks,” Lexa replied with a small smile and took a few steps forward before climbing the stairs to her room.

She flung her backpack onto her bed and made her way over to her desk, pulling out a small notebook and a black felt pen. After ripping out a sheet, Lexa uncapped the pen and took a deep breath before writing a simple word onto it. She put the pen away and carefully ripped the paper down to a slightly more proportionate size to the word she had written and slid it carefully into her back pocket before grabbing her camera and heading back downstairs.

She had been to the park so many times before to take pictures that she essentially knew the entire map of trails that wound around for nearly a dozen miles by heart. With renewed vigor in her step, Lexa made her way down a familiar pathway that she knew would lead her to the delicate purple flowers she would often times take pictures of and had also served as the backdrop in the photo that Clarke had taken and tagged her in as her way of asking her to the school dance.

When she found the exact spot she was looking for, Lexa slid the small piece of paper from her back pocket and carefully positioned it atop of the tiny leaves of the flowers, similar to how Clarke had done in her own photo, and knelt down to point her camera lens towards the flowers and the note. Deciding to use a different angle, Lexa repositioned herself even lower to the ground as she laid on her stomach and propped herself up onto her elbows and she raised the camera up to her eye once again. She carefully adjusted the aperture and manual zoom settings before pressing down on the shutter button a single time. She carefully studied the image on her camera’s display and, after feeling satisfied with the quality and composition of the photograph, she rolled onto her back and sighed while her heart hammered in her chest as she let her daydreams drift up as high as the treetops that danced along the edges of the clear blue sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy)


	2. Part Two

Lexa had never felt more awkward in her life, and that was certainly saying something since she always felt the tiniest bit awkward no matter what she was doing or who she was talking to. She even sometimes felt awkward with herself, alone, with no one even remotely within her vicinity, and the fact that she had never before felt this level of awkwardness rising from within her was a bit unnerving. It had been a mere twelve hours since she had posted her answer to Clarke’s prom request on her own Instagram feed and had been counting down the minutes, after futilely telling herself not to, until she would stand face-to-face with the blonde in the school hallway that very morning.

She was there early, much earlier than she normally was, and the halls were silent aside from the occasional teacher arriving or student shuffling sleepily towards his locker. Lexa had purposefully walked herself to school ahead of schedule after having giving up on the fleeting amount of sleep she had gotten that night and early morning and thought it might be good for her to be the first one of the two to arrive so that she could be the one Clarke approached instead of her having to approach Clarke. It somehow made it feel less awkward that way. What she didn’t expect was for Clarke to show up almost just as early, and Lexa didn’t even notice her arrival as she lost herself in her thoughts like she so easily did on a daily basis.

“Morning,” Clarke said, and Lexa visibly startled before looking back at Clarke with wide eyes and an expression that could only be described as adorably shocked.

She looked at Clarke as if she had never seen her before because Lexa could honestly say she had never seen Clarke look like _that_ before. She was radiant with her curly blonde tresses pinned back in a messy yet stylish bun and her blue eyes sparkling with excitement and perhaps a little bit of trepidation as well, a possibility that had Lexa feeling just the slightest bit more confident. She wore just a simple black blouse with dark skinny jeans, a typical teenager look, but Lexa thought she looked more like she’d come straight off the cover of some type of fashion magazine. She was suddenly painfully aware that she hadn’t responded to Clarke’s morning greeting yet and swallowed thickly as she willed herself to speak.

“Hey,” she managed to croak out.

“You’re going to have to teach me how to take a decent picture one of these days,” Clarke said somewhat shyly. “Yours was way better than mine.”

Lexa immediately felt her head shaking in disagreement as she blinked a few times and tried to find her words.

“No, it was nice,” she offered quietly as her heart pounded in her chest. “It was pretty.”

As she mentally kicked herself for sounding so lame, Lexa took what she hoped was an unnoticeable breath and reached into her backpack to pull out a book and set it into her locker. She hoped to no end that Clarke would be the one carrying this conversation as she was feeling even more for lack of words now than she ever had been her entire life.

“So I was wondering if you were planning on going to the baseball game next Friday,” Clarke continued, much to Lexa’s relief.

_Baseball game?_

Lexa’s mind drew a blank as she tried to figure out what Clarke was talking about. She definitely wasn’t one for sports, playing or watching, so the suggestion of her going to a baseball game caught her quite off-guard. As Lexa continued to stare uncomfortably at her, Clarke spoke up and offered a bit more of an explanation.

“Usually the week before prom, there’s a big baseball game that everyone goes to,” Clarke said. “It’s not as big of a deal as like the homecoming football game, but it’s a close second. Anyways I just thought if you were planning on going, we could go together.”

Lexa lifted her chin to nod but stopped before the motion was complete, still unsure of how to respond. She was still quite nervous about the fact that she had agreed to go to the prom with the most popular girl in the school and was now feeling even more apprehensive. Lexa still wasn’t sure what to think about the whole situation and had the feeling she would just have to prepare for the worst and hold on for the ride if she wanted any hope of knowing how whatever this was play out.

“I figured we could talk about the prom,” Clarke went on. “You know, figure out the logistics of the night.”

Lexa felt herself nod immediately. That she understood. They had to figure out when and where to meet, or if one would be picking up the other and at what time. As soon as the thoughts entered Lexa’s mind, she felt her heart stutter as she suddenly thought back to her conversation with Monty about renting limousines.

_She'll definitely want a limo._

“Lexa?”

“Hmm,” Lexa mumbled lamely as her eyes found Clarke's again.

“What do you think?” Clarke asked. “About the game?”

“Sure, yeah,” Lexa replied softly, “that sounds good.”

“Great,” Clarke said as a small smile brightened up her face, “can I see your phone?”

Lexa just stared at Clarke, thoroughly confused by the request, and said nothing until Clarke clarified.

“So we can exchange numbers,” Clarke told her.

Another half nod later, Lexa was digging through the front pocket of her backpack and pulling out her phone as Clarke took hers from her back pocket of her jeans. Lexa was mildly surprised when she noticed the blue case wrapped around it, figuring Clarke was more of a pink kind of girl, but she liked it. With a quick swipe of her thumb, Lexa unlocked her phone and handed it over to Clarke who was holding her own out towards Lexa to take. Noticing that Clarke had already navigated to the contacts section of her phone, Lexa suddenly panicked as she realized she hadn't done the same for Clarke.

“Oh, uh,” Lexa stumbled over her words as she reached back for her phone.

She never ended up finishing her sentence but did manage to pull up a new contact and give her phone back to Clarke, hoping that Clarke hadn't noticed how her hands were shaking. Lexa typed in her name and phone number quickly and waited for Clarke to finish inputting her information as well. When they each handed the other back their phone, their fingers brushed lightly against one another and that simple touch was enough to light a spark under Lexa's skin that left a wave of delightful tingles in its wake.

“So who do you have for English?” Clarke asked as she tipped her head down towards the textbook in Lexa's arms.

“Kane,” Lexa simply told her.

“Oh, you're lucky,” Clarke replied quickly. “I had him last year for one semester. Has he told you guys the pancake story yet?”

Lexa nodded in response and couldn't fight the small smile that danced on her lips as she remembered a few parts of that story she had thought were quite hilarious. As soon as she noticed Clarke watching her intently, Lexa cleared her throat lightly and instinctively pushed her glasses up her nose before turning back to her locker and shoving her backpack inside. As if Clarke had noticed her sudden change in behavior, she broke her stare and pushed a rogue lock of her own hair behind her ear before speaking.

“Okay, well,” Clarke said as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, “feel free to text me whenever.”

“You too,” Lexa heard herself say softly.

“Bye,” Clarke said softly as she reached out and grazed her fingertips over the bare skin on Lexa's forearm.

The brunette said nothing in return, having lost all ability to think or speak as all of her mental capacity was now focused on trying to analyze and memorize the new sensation erupting from her arm at the spot Clarke had just touched and again forced her nerve endings to short-circuit. A few more students had begun to show up in the hallways, and Lexa's eyes darted between familiar faces as she tried to regain a normal rhythm of breathing.

She slammed her locker closed and turned on her heels towards the bathroom, suddenly desperate to plunge her hands under a cleansing stream of cool water. It felt just as refreshing as she had imagined and after spending about a minute letting her warm skin soak up the cold water, Lexa quickly dried her hands on a small paper towel before grabbing her textbook off the bathroom counter and heading towards her classroom. Just as she rounded the final corner before slipping past the doorway, Lexa noticed Clarke standing with her back facing her and talking to none other than Finn Collins himself. Her heart sank immediately as she watched the shaggy haired boy reach out and cup one of his hands around Clarke's elbow, presumably to pull her closer to him, before flashing a flirtatious smile at her.

“Finn, I already told you,” Clarke said as she pulled her arm away from his grasp, “I'm going with Lexa.”

“Come on, Princess,” Finn pleaded gently, “I know you're just upset that I didn't ask you sooner.”

“Then I guess you don't know me as well as you think,” Clarke stood her ground.

Finn let his hand drop to his side as he stared back at Clarke in surprise. He was honestly shocked that Clarke had asked Lexa Woods, of all people, to be her date to the prom but he knew he would never be satisfied until he had convinced her to go with him instead.

“I kind of thought it went without saying that we were going to the prom together,” Finn suggested with a shrug.

“Why would that go without saying?” Clarke questioned.

“Well, we _have_ gone on a few dates,” Finn explained, “and after that kiss we had on Valentine's Day, I thought we were something of an item.”

“That was almost three months ago,” Clarke replied, “plus we never made anything official.”

“I know that,” Finn agreed, “but that doesn't mean I don't want to make it official _someday_.”

“Someday didn't come, I guess,” Clarke said as politely as she could manage, “and now I'm going with Lexa.”

“You're making a mistake, Clarke,” Finn said boldly, to which Clarke did not respond well.

“Well, thank you Doctor Collins for your opinion on my love life,” Clarke snapped back, “but if it's all the same to you, I'm still going with Lexa and you’re not talking me out of it.”

“Fine,” Finn conceded, “just don't get too jealous when I show up to the prom with a date who's prettier than yours.”

“Fuck off,” Clarke snapped defensively as she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Which, if she decides to wear her glasses, won't be that hard,” Finn taunted.

“Just walk away, Finn,” Octavia suddenly said from behind him as she stood with her hands on her hips and her eyebrow cocked in challenge.

He looked back in surprise and clenched his jaw a few times before turning back towards Clarke and walking right past her, close enough that she could smell the heaviness of his cologne wafting behind him as he left. She looked over at Octavia, leaned back against the lockers behind her, and sighed loudly.

“What did I ever see in him?” Clarke wondered aloud.

“He was charming,” Octavia offered with a shrug before clarifying, “ _was_ charming.”

“Now he's just a pig,” Clarke said as she pushed herself away from the lockers and started walking down the hallway with Octavia. “Why are guys like that? They lay it on thick at the beginning and snap the second you make it clear that you're not going to give them what they want.”

“You literally just answered your own question, Clarke,” Octavia said with a smirk. “If you don't give it up according to their timetable, they’ll just move onto the next girl.”

“Well, he's not worth any more of my time,” Clarke said confidently as they continued to walk.

“Well, praise the pancake!” Octavia exclaimed as she lifted her hands into the air victoriously.

“I was _just_ talking about that story with Lexa this morning!” Clarke said excitedly as she laughed.

“Oh, yeah?” Octavia questioned with another smirk.

“Yeah, she has Kane for English this semester,” Clarke told her friend with a smile.

“I know, Clarke,” Octavia replied, “we're in the same class.”

“What?” Clarke squeaked as she whipped her head towards Octavia. “You never told me that!”

“We never really talked about Lexa that much,” Octavia said with a shrug before coming to a stop outside of her classroom.

Clarke was about to respond but her words died in her throat when she looked through the doorway and saw Lexa sitting at her desk, hunched over her open English textbook with her head resting on her hand. She barely registered saying goodbye to her friend as she continued to stare at the brunette and felt her heart flutter the moment her green eyes peered back at her behind those adorably oversized glasses resting just a tad too low on her nose. Clarke lifted her hand and waved shyly at Lexa, feeling somewhat disappointed when Lexa nervously looked back down at her textbook without giving any indication she had even seen Clarke.

* * *

 

“Hey, kid,” Gustus said over his newspaper as he sat reading it on the front porch.

“Hey, Dad,” Lexa said sullenly as she climbed the few stairs onto the wooden flooring and continued on towards the front door.

“Why are you so mopey lately?” Gustus questioned his daughter as he set the newspaper down in his lap.

“I'm not,” Lexa said as she shrugged.

“Don't lie to me, Alexandria,” Gustus warned as he peeked out from under his eyebrows.

Lexa looped her thumbs around the straps of her backpack and sighed. She wanted to tell her dad, wanted to tell him everything, but she also didn't want him to pepper her with questions or get too excited about the fact that she had a date to her senior prom that in reality might not even turn out to be a date at all if the interaction she'd seen between Clarke and Finn that morning was anything to go by.

“It's just been a weird week at school,” Lexa told him honestly. “Monty and Harper are going to a movie tomorrow night, and they asked if I wanted to come along.”

“I think that sounds like a great idea,” Gustus said with a small smile. “It will be good for you to do something on a Friday night other than study.”

Lexa nodded and forced a small smile onto her face before stepping back towards the front door and opening it. Gustus said nothing further and went back to reading his paper, knowing that if his daughter needed to talk she would come to him when she was ready. She seemed to have to push herself harder than normal as she climbed the long staircase up to the second level of their home, and Lexa breathed a heavy sigh as she reached the top before turning the corner and heading into her bedroom. She emptied her textbooks onto the surface of her desk, arranging them according to subject, before reaching for her laptop and taking it onto her bed with her.

She opened up her internet browser and clicked on the shortcut to her online banking website and after a few quick clicks, Lexa navigated to her account balance to review just how much money she had. A little over twelve hundred dollars that she had earned from her summer tutoring grade school students sat untouched in her account, about what she thought would be there. She wasn't a spender, but she and Monty did go out from time to time, so she made sure to always keep a tab on whatever money she had available.

Lexa knew her dad would offer to pay for her dress for the prom, maybe even the tickets to get into the dance as well, but she still wanted to assume that she was going to buy everything herself so not to seem like she was taking advantage of his generosity. She was old enough and responsible enough to have a job, even if it was just during the summer, so she knew she could afford to buy her own things. With a small sigh, Lexa opened another tab to do a little research on limousine rentals in the area so that just in case Clarke did want one for prom night, she would be prepared to rent one on short notice.

**Incoming Call: Anya Woods**

“Hey,” Lexa answered her vibrating phone quickly.

_“I'm not interrupting your ever important study time, am I?”_

“Studying _is_ important,” Lexa replied as she laid back on her bed. “You surely don't expect me to get into Polis U on my good looks.”

_“No, especially with your ugly good looking face.”_

“What does that even mean?” Lexa questioned as she slipped her glasses off and rubbed her eyes gently.

_“I don't know, stop changing the subject.”_

“What _is_ the subject?” Lexa asked as she raised one of her eyebrows in confusion.

_“You never told me how it went with Clarke.”_

“Okay, I guess,” Lexa said softly.

_“She wasn't disappointed?”_

“Actually,” Lexa started with a long sigh, “I said yes.”

There was a long pause of silence on the other end of the line, and Lexa's eyes shifted back and forth a few times before she opened her mouth to speak again.

“Anya?”

_“Yeah, I'm here, I'm just having a stroke.”_

Lexa rolled her eyes and put her glasses back on before relaxing deeper into the pillows on her bed. She knew Anya would make a big deal about the fact that she had said yes which is exactly why she hadn't been too eager to call her older sister to tell her about it. She loved that Anya could share in her good news and excitement, but Lexa still wasn't altogether convinced that going to the prom with Clarke Griffin _was_ the exciting good news as it seemed to be.

_“I'm totally thrilled for you, Lex, but what made you change your mind?”_

“Clarke's best friend, Octavia, told me that Clarke was disappointed that I hadn't given her an answer yet,” Lexa explained, “and it made me think that maybe she actually did want to go with me after all.”

_“Well, that's great then!”_

“Yeah, great except for the fact that I saw her flirting with Finn this morning, not even a day after I told her I'd go with her,” Lexa said, “which makes me go back to realizing that I'm an idiot to ever think she wanted to go with me.”

_“Lexa, teenage girls are flirty bitches. She was probably just talking to him and didn't realize how it looked to the people around her.”_

“Or she could still be dating him and this is all part of their plan to humiliate me on prom night,” Lexa argued.

_“Oh my gosh, Lexa, you **seriously** need to chill with this paranoia. You're going to ruin a perfectly awesome night before it even starts if you keep this up.”_

“You just don't get it,” Lexa finally interjected. “You _were_ one of the popular kids at school. You had beauty _and_ brains and never had to question anyone's motives. I only have brains which automatically categorizes me in the loser group, the group that always gets picked on whenever the cool kids need to feel better about themselves. This is exactly the kind of shit that I have to worry about on a daily basis, so excuse me for letting my self-preservation show.”

_“First of all, not all popular kids are jackasses. There's some of us who are, you know, **kind** to other people. And don't think for a second that just because a kid is popular they never have to question someone else's motives. The fact that I had an 'in' with all the social circles at Arkadia and even some at other schools screamed for other kids to take advantage of my friendship. You just need to stop doubting this girl and get to know her.”_

“Yeah, but–”

_“Look, even if she originally did have ulterior motives, what makes you think that after spending a little time with you she isn't going to want to change her mind? You're a catch, Lex, and I'm not just saying that as an older sister to younger sister compliment. You're actually legitimately blind if you don't think you have brains and beauty.”_

Lexa frowned at her sister's words and thought that maybe she was reading into all of this more than she should be. Again. If Anya was right about anything, she was right about the fact that she and Clarke didn't really know anything about each other. Sure, Lexa knew a few facts about the girl and they have a few stories in common, but that's nothing more than expected when two people have grown up going to the same school for the last twelve years.

_“So when is the prom anyways?”_

“Two Saturdays from now,” Lexa answered. “Clarke invited me to some baseball game next Friday to discuss the details of the night.”

_“Oh, the baseball game is always a blast! Make sure you wear cute underwear.”_

“What?” Lexa questioned hastily, thoroughly shocked as to why it would matter what type of underwear she wore to a baseball game.

_“After the game, everyone goes down to the lake and does the undie plunge. One year some seniors did it in the pool at someone's house, but they said it wasn’t as fun. Not to mention it was probably quite awkward when the kid's parents came home unexpectedly to find forty teenagers swimming in their pool in nothing but their underwear.”_

With her eyes widening and her mind racing, Lexa remained silent as she let the shock of Anya's little tidbit of information about the ‘after game’ wash over her. Was Clarke seriously expecting her to strip in front of all her classmates and jump into a lake? Was Clarke going to do it? The second Lexa's mind went to picturing Clarke in her underclothes was the second she cursed herself for going there while she was on the phone with her older sister.

A warm tingle spread from her chest, down to her stomach, and settled between her legs as she tried desperately not to think about Clarke's creamy white skin sparkling with tiny beads of lake water under the silvery moonlight. Her breath caught in her throat as Lexa imagined herself skating her fingertips against her damp skin, or perhaps her wet skin under the water and away from everyone's view, and she nearly stopped breathing altogether when she thought about what Clarke would taste like under her lips as she discovered the places that made her moan or how the weight of Clarke's breasts would feel in the palms of her hands, pressing forward with each desperate heave of her chest–

_“Did you just experience your first sexual thought of your entire life?”_

“What? No!” Lexa quickly defended herself, realizing that she had just been fantasizing about her date to the dance while she was still on the phone.

_“It's okay, Lexa, it's completely natural.”_

“Shut up, Anya,” Lexa scolded her sister, knowing full well that she was teasing her. “I didn't have a thought like that.”

_“Alright, fine. Not that I believe you would admit it to me anyways.”_

Lexa rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, waiting for her sister to speak up again which she did just a moment later.

_“Is Dad buying your dress?”_

“I... uh... he doesn't–,” Lexa stumbled over her words, “I haven't told him about it yet.”

_“What? Why not?”_

“If I tell you, you'll just get mad,” Lexa said, seeing as her sister had just lectured her about being paranoid.

_“Well, tell him soon. I'm sure he will give you some money.”_

“I have money, Anya,” Lexa said as she turned herself on her side and propped her head up under her free hand.

_“I'm just saying since he bought my dress for prom, I'm sure he'll buy yours too. Speaking of which, when are you going shopping for it?”_

“I don't know,” Lexa said with a shrug, hadn't having given it much thought.

_“How about I come down next Saturday, and we can made a day of it?”_

“Don't you have finals to study for?” Lexa asked, knowing that her sister's University classes were nearing their end for the year.

_“I can do more than one thing on my weekends, Lex, and I don't trust you to buy shoes on your own.”_

“I am more than capable of buying shoes,” Lexa retorted, clearly unamused. “I have been doing so for many years.”

_“I'm telling you, you'll have no idea what to buy once you get your dress. Nothing you've ever picked out in your entire lifetime comes even close to being acceptable footwear for prom.”_

“Anya–”

_“You'll take my help, and you'll like it.”_

“Fine,” Lexa finally agreed with a huff. “Anyways, I should probably go. I have a ton of homework to get done for tomorrow.”

_“Alright, and Lex?”_

“Yeah?” Lexa asked wearily, unsure whether what was about to come out of Anya's mouth was going to be a heartfelt sister to sister comment or something wildly inappropriate.

_“Don't have too many sex dreams about Clarke tonight.”_

“Ugh,” Lexa groaned as she rolled her eyes and sat up on her bed, “I hate you.”

_“Love you too!”_

Damn her. Damn Anya and her lascivious commentary. With a hard swallow and a long sigh, Lexa pushed herself off of her bed to sit down at her desk and start on her nightly homework only to be side-tracked with images of a nearly naked Clarke running up and down the beach flashing through her mind over and over and over again.

* * *

 

With one final look in the mirror, Lexa deemed herself put together enough to finally make her way downstairs and meet Monty and Harper who were probably just a few minutes away from arriving at her house to pick her up for the movie. She hadn't planned on taking a nap after school, but it was as if all the events of the week had finally caught up to her and Lexa had found herself waking a couple of hours later after having fallen asleep just a few minutes after flipping on her TV. She didn't usually watch it during school nights, but there was something tempting about being lazy in front of it that Friday afternoon that had completely taken over her motivations to do anything productive before going out with her friends.

“Lexa!” Gustus yelled from the bottom of the stairs, not knowing that Lexa was already on her way down.

“Jeez, Dad, I'm right here,” Lexa said as she cringed at the way her ears were ringing.

“Sorry, I didn't see you,” Gustus replied, “your friends just pulled up.”

“Thanks,” Lexa as she flashed her father a smile and made her way down the last few stairs.

“Here,” Gustus said as he handed Lexa two twenty dollar bills, “snacks are on me.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Lexa replied and leaned up on her tiptoes to plant a quick kiss on her dad's cheek.

“Have fun and don't come home before midnight!” Gustus called after his daughter as she made her way out to Monty's truck.

Lexa shook her head and chuckled as she hopped into the backseat of her best friend's truck. Most parents made their kids come home by a certain time, but Lexa's dad was all but asking her to stay out as late as she wanted. She knew her father appreciated her mature sense of responsibility, and the fact that Lexa rarely went out with friends and never got into trouble when she did just made her curfews all the more lenient. Lexa greeted Harper with a smile who had turned around in her seat to look back at her when she had climbed into the truck.

“Hey, Lexa,” Harper said through her own smile.

“Hey, Harper,” Lexa replied back politely.

“Cool shirt,” she said as she pointed down at Lexa's chest.

Lexa looked down on cue as a light blush dusted the tops of her cheeks at the compliment. She wasn't wearing anything special, just a purple t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans, but it was the kindness of the girl's words that meant so much to Lexa. It wasn't often that she found herself on the receiving end of comments regarding her wardrobe, but it felt nice to be shown appreciation even in the smallest of ways. After Lexa had properly buckled her seat belt, Monty shifted his truck into reverse and backed out of the driveway quickly to make sure they got to the movie theater with enough time to buy their tickets and a few snacks. Friday nights at the local theater were always busy, and the lines to the concessions could sometimes take upwards of fifteen minutes to get through.

“My dad gave us some money for snacks, so go crazy,” Lexa told Monty and Harper as she held up the bills for them to see while they took a spot in one of the concessions lines.

“Nice,” Monty exclaimed with a fist pump, “giant tub of extra buttered popcorn, here I come!”

The two girls laughed at their friend's enthusiasm before turning their attention back to the large overhead displays above the candy counters which listed all of the food and drink items that were for sale along with their prices. Just as Lexa was debating on whether to give into her craving for nachos and cheese sauce, she heard her name being called from somewhere behind her. She turned around just in time to see Octavia waving excitedly at her before yelling her name again.

“Hey, Lexa!” The brunette said with a wide grin.

_Why is she saying hello to me? She's obviously aware it's me since she called my name, but why–_

“Hey, Octavia,” Lexa replied politely as soon as the girl was within an appropriate distance.

“Are you here to see the new robot movie?” Octavia asked excitedly.

“Yeah,” Lexa quickly answered as her eyes darted over to her friends who were both looking at Octavia.

“It's _so_ good,” Octavia gushed dramatically, “just make sure you stay after the credits because there's an extra scene at the end that you're not going to want to miss.”

Lexa simply nodded in understanding, and Octavia looked over towards Monty. The brunette had seen him before but had never taken the time to introduce herself to him, so she lifted her hand in a small wave and told him her name.

“I'm Monty, and this is Harper,” Monty said as he pointed to himself and then to the blonde standing next to him.

“Nice to meet you guys,” Octavia said with a smile. “This is my boyfriend, Lincoln.”

“Hey,” Monty greeted with a small nod of his head.

“You guys should come by the beach after your movie,” Octavia offered to the group before looking over at Lexa and adding, “Clarke will be there.”

Lexa swallowed nervously and her eyes darted away from Octavia's for just a moment as she tried to come up with some type of response, any type of response, that didn't make her sound like a fool. Half of her felt beyond excited at the possibility of seeing Clarke outside of school, but the other half of her felt hesitant like Octavia was not only setting her up for a fake rendezvous with a group of the popular kids but setting her friends as well.

“It'll be fun,” Octavia assured everyone, “there will be a bonfire and we usually just sit around and talk.”

“Maybe,” Lexa finally managed to say, not wanting to commit to anything without talking to her friends about it in private.

“Try to turn her maybe into a yes,” Octavia said as she looked over at Harper and Monty, “because Clarke would be thoroughly disappointed if she knew Lexa was invited but didn't come.”

_She would?_

Lexa posed several questions like that to herself as she remembered back to the previous day at school when she had seen Clarke with Finn. If Finn was going to be at the bonfire, which Lexa was assured he would be since he was also a member of the elite popular group, why would Clarke even want her there? Wouldn't it be that much more difficult to pretend that she liked her with Finn staring them down all night? Lexa just then noticed as Lincoln subtly elbowed his girlfriend in the ribs and tipped his head towards the side of the snack counter, and Lexa followed his gaze to let her own fall on the very person she had just been thinking about.

“Unbelievable,” Octavia scoffed as she watched Finn wrap his arm around a petite redhead and bury his face in her neck as she bit her lip and tilted her head to the side.

Lexa looked from Finn back to Octavia questioningly.

“He works fast,” Lincoln muttered, with which Octavia agreed quietly.

“He was _just_ begging Clarke yesterday morning to go to prom with him,” Octavia explained as she looked over at Lexa, “she told him no obviously because she's going with you but still... for someone who is apparently so hung up on her, he sure moved onto someone else fast.”

Lexa heard herself sigh in relief at Octavia's explanation. That's what Lexa had seen that morning in the hallway. Finn was trying to convince Clarke to go with him to the prom, and Clarke was telling him no. Lexa’s heart swelled the tiniest bit as she thought about the fact that Clarke had actually turned him down and chose to go with her over him but the swell immediately deflated as Lexa put her emotions back in check, not wanting herself to get her hopes too high in case they all came crashing down.

“Anyways, we always set up on the south side pen,” Octavia continued, “hopefully we'll see you there!”

Lexa just smiled politely and watched as Octavia and Lincoln turned to leave just as quickly as they had arrived. Turning back to her friends with a questioning expression, Lexa narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to speak.

“South side pen?”

“South side peninsula,” Harper answered. “It's basically a giant beach. I've never been on it myself but my parents usually take us over by it when we go out boating.”

“We should go, Lex,” Monty piped up as they advanced several feet in line. “It seems like Clarke would want you there, and you said your dad _did_ tell you to stay out until midnight.”

“What if they're all just drinking?” Lexa wondered as she shrugged her shoulders.

That's what popular kids did on Friday nights, right? The question in itself frightened her slightly, and Lexa wondered just what she may have gotten herself into by agreeing to a date with the blonde.

“Then we can leave,” Monty replied easily.

Lexa felt like sighing for what would be something like the umpteenth time that week but held it back as her indecision swirled around in her head, tempting her one way and then pushing her back the other. By the time it was their turn to order their snacks, Lexa had decided that she would be asking Monty to bring her home right after the movie. She was already nervous as it was to have agreed to accompany Clarke to the school baseball game later that upcoming week, and she didn’t need to load a group of popular kids Lexa knew nothing about with even more ammunition against her than they were bound to get during the game and events at the lake afterwards.

Monty only protested for about a minute when Lexa had told them she would rather spend the rest of her evening at home rather than out at a bonfire on the south side peninsula, but he ultimately told her that he understood and drove her back home before leaving to drop Harper off at her own house. Gustus was definitely disappointed to see his daughter arrive back well before midnight but nonetheless decided not to bother her about it. He simply asked her how the movie was and if she had gotten enough junk food to classify as a teenager’s idea of a well-rounded meal.

Lexa had giggled and assured her father that she was more than satisfied with the copious amounts of nachos, popcorn, candy, and sugary drinks that she had consumed during the movie and said goodnight quietly before heading upstairs to get herself ready for bed. It was early, for a Friday, to be settling down for sleep so Lexa decided to watch a movie or two before actually losing herself in a deep sleep where she hoped that all she would dream about was Clarke. The moment Lexa pressed play on her second movie, her phone vibrated with a notification of a new text message.

**MsGriffster: How was the movie?**

Lexa’s heart jumped in her chest as she read and reread the message from Clarke, fighting the urge to lock it in fear that it might disappear like it had never been there to begin with. She barely noticed the smile that had been stretching her lips until her cheeks began to hurt with the tight pull of her facial muscles, and taking a deep breath to let it slip out slowly was all Lexa could do to calm her racing heart and relax her face long enough to form some type of coherent sentence with which to reply back.

**Lexa Woods: It was enjoyable. How was the bonfire?**

**MsGriffster: It was enjoyable :)**

Lexa paused at that and felt a new smirk begin to form at the corner of her lips before a new text message notification vibrated against her fingers.

**MsGriffster: I was hoping you would stop by though.**

She swallowed as she read Clarke’s last text and wondered how she should respond. It wasn’t in her nature to lie, but she also didn’t really know what else to tell Clarke without making herself sound like a nervous paranoid wreck. _‘I didn’t want to come because I still don’t know whether you and your friends are making nice with me just so that you can do something horribly humiliating to me and laugh about how stupid and gullible I am at some point in the near future,’_ didn’t seem like the best thing to type out at that particular time, so Lexa sighed and decided to lie. Only partially though.

**Lexa Woods: I had to get home before my curfew.**

The statement in itself _wasn't_ a lie, but still Lexa knew that she would in no way have been in trouble if she would have decided to stay out _until_ her curfew and not come home before it. So for the sake of not sounding completely crazy to Clarke, Lexa decided to just that one time fudge the truth just a bit.

**MsGriffster: Fair enough.**

**MsGriffster: See you on Monday?**

Lexa sighed in relief at Clarke’s quick acceptance of her explanation and equally as fast ending to the conversation. She loved the feeling that jolted excitedly through her veins each time she talked to or thought about Clarke Griffin, but the sensation was still new and scary so not being forced to deal with it for extended periods of time seemed to be the only thing keeping Lexa’s feet connected with the ground and her head out of the clouds.

**Lexa Woods: Yes, see you Monday.**

**MsGriffster: Night Lexa :)**

**Lexa Woods: Goodnight, Clarke.**

With a grin on her face and a flutter in her chest, Lexa let her phone drop beside her on the bed as she turned her attention back to the movie she had just started. She couldn’t help but feel like a teenager with a crush because, well, that’s exactly what she was after all. As much as Lexa tried to deny it, she was slowly starting to realize that her feelings about Clarke had grown into something entirely different than she had ever thought she would allow to happen. Not that the entire situation didn’t terrify her to all ends of the Earth, it did, but the handful of times she had spoken both directly and indirectly with Clarke were so dangerously addicting that she could barely tell when her thoughts about the girl ended and her own thoughts began. She bit her lip to stop herself from flashing a full-fledged smile when she heard her phone vibrate again but all thoughts of the blonde were quickly wiped from her mind as soon as she read the text that had just been sent to her.

**Anya Woods: Send me a picture of your underwear.**

Lexa scrunched her face in disgust, immediately realizing that it was late on a Friday night and one of Anya’s friends had probably hijacked her phone and texted whoever they could find on her latest contacts list. She contemplated not responding but didn’t want Anya to worry when she realized that Lexa had never responded to the text, something that Lexa hadn’t made a habit of doing.

**Lexa Woods: Did someone hack your phone?**

**Anya Woods: No, it's all I can think about lately.**

Lexa scrunched her face again in confusion, quickly typing out a quick-witted response, and waited for Anya to reply.

**Lexa Woods: What the hell is even wrong with you?**

**Anya Woods: For the undie plunge, stupid.**

Lexa rolled her eyes. Of course. That makes more sense. Thankfully.

**Lexa Woods: Are you drunk?**

**Anya Woods: Maybe. Stop changing the subject.**

**Lexa Woods: I'm not sending you a picture of my underwear. That's beyond creepy.**

**Anya Woods: Fine, just do me a favor...**

**Lexa Woods: That would more now than ever before depend on what the favor is.**

**Anya Woods: Go buy something cute so that you don't embarrass yourself by showing up in grandma panties and a sports bra.**

**Lexa Woods: I have perfectly suitable underclothes already. I'm not going to buy more for something I don't even know will be happening.**

**Anya Woods: Trust me, it will be happening. It's a school tradition. And you’re going to look ridiculous if you don’t go out and buy something cute enough to make Clarke want to see off of you.**

Lexa scoffed out a small laugh and shook her head lightly. She didn’t know what to comment on first: the fact that her sister had just told her to buy something cute enough to eventually not wear, the fact that she was wrong in implying that Clarke would want to see her sans underclothes, or the fact that she had just completely insulted her fashion sense.

**Lexa Woods: Thanks for the vote of confidence, sis.**

**Anya Woods: I’m just looking out for you.**

**Anya Woods: When in doubt, choose lace.**

**Anya Woods: Better to look foxy than frumpy.**

Lexa cringed at the rapid-fire text messages making her phone continually vibrate. It was something that she always detested, when someone sent a string of messages one after the other that could easily be typed into one longer message, but she didn’t feel motivated enough to critique Anya on it for what would be about the hundredth time so she just let it go and typed out a response.

**Lexa Woods: I think I can manage.**

**Anya Woods: Fine. Be that way.**

**Lexa Woods: Don't drink and drive.**

**Anya Woods: Love you too!**

As she let her sister’s words get the best of her, Lexa jumped up from her bed and headed over towards her dresser before sliding the top drawer open and searching through the stacks of underclothes she had neatly organized according to style and color. The more cotton panties she pulled aside, the more she realized that Anya was right. Lexa valued comfort over style because, really, why would she need ever to worry about the style of her underwear?

_This is stupid._

Lexa sighed in defeat and snapped her drawer shut, trudging back over to her bed and flopping back down on it. She wasn’t going to let something as trivial as underwear get her riled up, and if come Friday after the baseball game they actually _did_ run and jump into the lake then she would simply wear whatever type of underwear she already had. Another sigh slipped past Lexa’s lips as she turned her attention back to her movie and silently scolded herself for having thought more about underwear in the last ten minutes than she probably ever had her entire life.

* * *

 

**MsGriffster: Be there in ten!**

“ _Shit_ ,” Lexa whispered under her breath as she read the text message from Clarke.

She had been fiddling with her hair and makeup in the bathroom for over an hour, not completely sure why, but had been having the worst time of her life making any of it look half as good as she had hoped it would. It was finally the night of the big baseball game, the night she and Clarke were going to talk about their prom plans, and it was the first time since Clarke’s third grade birthday party that she and Lexa would converse at length outside of the confines of school.

Lexa knew why she was nervous but she tried not to think about it, determined not to let her insecurities and skepticism make her panic and cancel. She wanted to see Clarke, she wanted more than anything to be close to her and talk to her and laugh with her, but Lexa was painfully aware of her own shy side and that just made her all the more nervous about the upcoming events of the night. As she tightened the ponytail in her hair one last time and made sure that none of the light covering of eye makeup she had put on was smudged, Lexa slid her glasses back on her face and hurried back into her bedroom to change.

She had decided on wearing a simple outfit consisting of jean shorts, a gray tank top, and a red plaid button-down shirt, knowing that she could easily roll down the sleeves on her shirt if the night turned cool. Lexa hurried over to her desk and grabbed the items she had laid out earlier and began putting everything into the pockets of her shorts: money, her ID, lip balm, and her phone. She didn’t want to mess with bringing a purse, especially since she might end up at the lake by the end of the night, so Lexa just simply hoped that she had what she needed and went with it.

“So, do I get to meet this mysterious friend who is picking you up tonight?” Gustus asked as Lexa descended the last few stairs and started towards the living room.

“Um,” Lexa began hesitantly, “I don’t think she will come in. I told her I’d just come out when she got here.”

“Well, can I at least know her name?” Gustus asked with a smirk.

“Clarke Griffin,” Lexa answered quickly by quietly.

“Griffin,” Gustus repeated to himself, “Jake and Abby’s daughter?”

“Yep,” Lexa stated simply as she began fidgeting with the bottom of one side of her shirt.

Gustus was about to respond, and had opened his mouth to do so, but was cut off when Lexa suddenly interrupted him.

“We’re going to the prom together,” she blurted out nervously.

When she didn’t hear a response from her father within several long moments, Lexa swallowed nervously and looked back up towards him hoping that she could gauge his expression since he wasn’t using any of his words. He looked just as stunned as Lexa had been when she saw the picture Clarke had tagged her in on Instagram asking her to the prom, but she waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts long enough to form a sentence.

“I’m–I’m shocked,” Gustus finally managed to get out. “I mean, I’m thrilled that you decided to go but I’m just surprised that you are since you had been so adamant about _not_ going. I figured you weren’t going. But I’m so happy that you decided to go!”

If Lexa hadn’t have been so antsy about Clarke’s impending arrival at her house, she probably would have laughed at the way her father was babbling on.

“So,” Gustus continued, “is this your first date with her then?”

“No!” Lexa all but shouted before dialing back the volume of her voice a bit. “There’s going to be a ton of other kids there, and she just asked me so that we could figure out what we’re doing on prom night. Like where to meet and stuff like that.”

Gustus narrowed his eyes at his daughter and watched carefully as she continued subconsciously picking at the hem of her shirt with her freshly glossed fingernails. He knew her well enough to know that even though she wasn't one for dramatic colors, she usually made an effort to keep her nails trimmed and shiny with clear nail polish ever since Anya had taught her how to apply it. Lexa finally broke her gaze with him as the sound of a vehicle coming up their driveway caught her attention, and he watched as she craned her neck to see out the small window next to the front door.

“She’s here,” Lexa announced breathlessly before turning back to her father, “I should go.”

“Wait,” Gustus commanded just before hearing a car door close.

“Dad–”

“I heard the car door,” Gustus explained, “she must know better than to listen to you when you probably told her not to come to the door.”

Lexa’s mouth scrunched over to one side of her face in guilt as she thought about the fact that she had told Clarke exactly that, wanting to avoid the chances of her meeting her father and making the night even more awkward than it probably already was going to be. As soon as she saw a tiny flash of blonde hair through the window by the front door, Lexa jumped back out of view and attempted to mold herself into the surface of the wall behind her. She didn’t want Clarke to see her and think that she had been standing there waiting for her, but there wasn’t really anywhere else for her to go either. Gustus just chuckled to himself and stood up from his chair before heading towards the door as the doorbell sounded.

“Wait!” Lexa exclaimed quietly. “Just... I’ll get it...”

She took a deep breath and pushed her glasses up her nose before detaching herself from the wall and walking slowly over towards the front door. Gustus just stood in silence as he watched his daughter reach a shaky hand towards the door handle and quickly pull the door open to reveal a smiling from ear-to-ear Clarke Griffin.

“Hey, Lexa,” Clarke greeted her with a tight wave.

“Hi,” Lexa replied quietly and immediately stepped towards the doorway to hurry outside before her father could make it over to them.

She apparently wasn’t quite fast enough because just as she began to pull the door closed behind her, a strong hand above her head gripped the edge of the heavy wooden door and held it back. Lexa sighed and felt her father step up behind her, presumably to introduce himself properly which Lexa had tried so hard not to let happen.

“Good evening, Clarke,” Gustus said from over Lexa’s shoulder.

“Hi, Mr. Woods,” Clarke greeted with a friendly smile.

“Lexa tells me you girls are going to a baseball game,” Gustus continued.

_Please don’t say anything embarrassing, Dad, please..._

“Yep!” Clarke replied jovially.

“She also just informed me that you two are going to the prom together, is that right?”

_Maybe just stop talking altogether. That might be a better plan._

Lexa clenched her jaw and stared up at Clarke with wide eyes, waiting for the other girl to speak since she seemed to be frozen in time.

“Yep,” Clarke said a little more reserved that time as she let her smile soften and her gaze turn towards a very nervous looking Lexa.

Blue and green eyes remained locked for a few moments before Gustus was speaking again, making himself seem unaware of the electricity between the two that he was sensing.

“Well, whether I take them or someone else does,” Gustus started, “I expect pictures of you both in your dresses.”

“Sure, Dad,” Lexa said hastily as she tried to move towards the driveway again only to feel the door remain securely in its place.

“My mom said the same thing,” Clarke piped up with a smile still on her face, “so don’t worry.”

Lexa’s heart stuttered in her chest at what she’d just heard. Clarke had told them. Clarke had told them she was going to the prom. Clarke had told her parents that she was going to the prom with Lexa. The realization of that hit Lexa like a ton of bricks, and she instantly felt herself almost giddy with excitement at the fact that Clarke had been talking to her parents about going to the prom with her. Her brain was nearing overdrive as her heart continued to increase in its pace, but she was quickly pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of her father’s voice.

“Alright, you two have fun,” Gustus said before turning to Clarke, “and don’t let her come home before midnight.”

With that, Lexa let her hand drop from the door handle and scurried her way through the doorway and onto the porch as she heard Clarke saying goodbye to her father before turning around and following her down the few stairs to the walkway below.

“Your dad’s cool,” Clarke said as she matched Lexa’s pace.

“Yeah,” Lexa answered lamely. “I guess.”

“So, have you eaten dinner yet?” Clarke asked as she rounded her truck to the driver’s side door.

“Uh,” Lexa began quietly, “no.”

_Shit. Was I supposed to have eaten?_

“Good,” Clarke quickly replied with a smile as she climbed behind the steering wheel, “because the food at these games is the _best_.”

As Lexa situated herself in Clarke’s jeep, she couldn’t help but notice the faint traces of perfume and air freshener lingering in the space between them and just barely stopped herself before she took a deep whiff of the scent to try and memorize the smell. It was light and flowery, like she was standing in the middle of a field of wildflowers, and was mixed with a small hint of vanilla. That she was sure of. She looked over to Clarke who had already been staring at her and returned a small smile at the blonde before the truck was being switched into reverse and backed out the driveway.

* * *

 

Lexa looked down at her hotdog, already prepared with her request of ketchup and relish before it was handed over to her, and tried to see what made this hotdog different than all of the other ones she’d consumed in her life. Clarke had been talking up the _amazing_ and _awesome_ and _freaking delicious_ food that was served from the concession stands near the fan bleachers during the entire drive from Lexa’s house to the school, and even Lexa had to admit that she was getting more hungry by the second listening to Clarke describe the wondrous food they were about to have only to be presented with what looked like quite normal concession stand food. They made their way back to about the middle row of the bleachers and sat down next to each other, flanked on either side with fellow seniors from their school.

“Mmmm,” Clarke moaned as she took her first bite, “isn’t this just the best?”

Lexa looked over at her as she chewed her own first bite of her hotdog, not tasting anything special, and was unsure of how to answer. She didn’t really want to lie and tell Clarke that it was the best food she had ever eaten because quite frankly it didn’t come close to that, but she also didn’t want to tell Clarke she didn’t think it was anything special because Clarke obviously loved it more than she did. After a few more seconds of silent indecision, Lexa finally caught Clarke’s gaze as she swallowed her bite of food and opened her mouth to speak.

“It’s okay,” she said quietly.

“What?!” Clarke squeaked as if she was thoroughly shocked, and Lexa couldn’t help the small smile that sprung to her lips at the adorable sound. “ _Just_ okay?”

“It tastes like every other hotdog I’ve had,” Lexa explained with an innocent shrug. “It doesn’t seem like there’s anything that special about it.”

“Come on, Lexa,” Clarke urged with a small nudge to Lexa’s side. “Get into the spirit! So maybe the food _isn't_ anything special, but isn’t there just... I don’t know... something about eating a hotdog at a baseball game under the setting sun that makes it taste that much better?”

Lexa continued to watch Clarke as she explained animatedly with her hands, her eyes closing peacefully at times as she seemed to drink in the experience happening around her, and looked down at her hotdog and frowning lightly at it before latching her eyes back onto sparkling blue ones once again.

“Not really,” Lexa answered honestly.

Clarke just snorted out a quiet laugh and rolled her eyes playfully, which made Lexa smile back without even being aware that she was doing so. They held each other’s gazes for a few silent moments before Clarke licked her lips and smirked.

“Whatever, Woods,” she said as she nudged Lexa a second time and paused for a moment. “Maybe it has more to do with the experience than the actual food.”

Lexa’s eyes flicked back up towards Clarke and watched as she took another bite of her hotdog. The combination of the butterflies fluttering around her stomach and the shy smile that Clarke flashed over at her was just about enough to send Lexa up into the clouds, but she quickly turned her gaze down and picked at the paper tray her hotdog was resting in before speaking quietly.

“I guess it is pretty good.”

They ate in silence until they had both finished their hotdogs and they were left sipping on their soft drinks while they watched on as their school’s team stepped up to bat for the second time that inning. Lexa had only a rudimentary knowledge of baseball but even she would admit, at least to herself, that she was finding spectating the game was actually somewhat fun. She enjoyed when the ball was hit in such a way that had the runners scrambling for a base to advance to, but she also found the possibility of witnessing the ball being hit clear over the fence exciting as well. In fact, she was having such an uncharacteristically good time that Lexa was almost surprised when she heard the blonde speak up beside her once again.

“I’d like some cotton candy,” Clarke said suddenly, “do you want any?”

“What color do you like?” Lexa asked.

“Pink is my favorite,” Clarke answered, not completely sure why Lexa hadn’t just answered her question of if she wanted any herself.

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Lexa replied before setting her drink cup aside and quickly getting up from her seat to make her way down the bleachers.

“Lexa, wait–”

Clarke huffed out a confused sigh and let the hand she had raised to try and stop Lexa fall back down onto her lap before feeling her best friend lean over her shoulder and speak into her ear.

“Did she just ditch you?” Octavia asked with a smirk on her lips and laughter in her voice.

“I told her I wanted cotton candy,” Clarke explained, “but I wasn't expecting her to run off and get me some.”

“She’s probably just nervous Clarke,” Octavia said as she nudged her elbow towards her best friend.

“You don’t think I am?” Clarke asked a she pulled a hand through her hair. “I was going to use the walk to the concession stand to calm myself down before I said anything stupid because all that’s going through my head are stupid things to say!”

“Jeez, Clarke, take a breath,” Octavia said. “That’s probably the same reason she went running off too.”

“You know, you guys really are one in the same,” Lincoln added as he leaned over his girlfriend.

“Clarke’s just a little dumber,” Octavia tacked on with an evil smile, and Clarke punched the brunette in the arm.

“You _both_ deserve a beat down,” Clarke hissed, and her two friends just giggled. “Asses.”

Clarke stood up and looked behind her to see Lexa standing at the small cotton candy machine, waiting for the employee to wind the puffy sugar onto a small paper handle for her. She hopped down the last few risers until she got to the ground before heading over towards Lexa who was now beginning her slow walk back to the bleachers. The brunette seemed to be in her own little world, and Clarke was sure if she wasn’t paying attention herself that the two would have collided as they advanced towards each other.

“Lexa,” Clarke finally announced herself as she got within about five feet of the girl, who looked up at her with a slightly flustered expression on her face. “I didn’t mean for you to get that for me.”

Lexa said nothing and offered the giant mound of pink cotton candy to Clarke, who took it and purposefully made sure their fingers brushed together during the exchange. Cautious green eyes looked back at Clarke, and the blonde felt herself smiling involuntarily as she looked back at Lexa before taking sole possession of the sugary treat and picking at it with her fingers.

“It’s okay,” Lexa quickly offered, “I wanted to stretch my legs.”

“That’s what I wanted to do too,” Clarke confessed with the smile still on her lips. “Should we walk around for a little bit?”

"Sure,” Lexa agreed with a small nod but made no movement to begin walking.

“Just to be clear,” Clarke started with a small smirk, “we are walking together, right?”

Lexa's eyes flicked down to Clarke's lips and she let her own smile break onto her face as she looked at Clarke before dropping her head shyly and taking a step forward as Clarke turned around and began walking slowly. Clarke pulled off a piece of cotton candy from the spool and then offered some to Lexa, who looked at it hesitantly at first but finally relented and plucked off a small chunk for herself.

“So, um,” Clarke broke the silence, “have you bought your dress yet?”

“Not yet,” Lexa answered softly, “have you?”

“No, I figured we'd better talk about it first,” Clarke replied as she plucked off another piece of cotton candy to eat, “in case we wanted to coordinate or something.”

“Oh, okay,” Lexa said as she rubbed her fingers together to rid them of the sticky residue the cotton candy had left behind.

“What color do you think you'll get?” Clarke questioned further, wanting to know which colors to steer herself away from to avoid them from clashing.

“I'm not really sure,” Lexa answered honestly.

“Well, do you have any general _ideas_ of what color you might want?” Clarke urged. “I just want to make sure we don't end up looking like a giant candy cane or something.”

Lexa let a small giggle slip past her lips as she thought about the two of them in literal giant candy cane costumes as opposed to them in red and white colored dresses, and Clarke let herself get lost in the sound. She had never heard Lexa giggle before and knew immediately that it was a sound she wanted to hear countless times over. Her own smile teased her lips as she took another bite of her cotton candy and watched Lexa intently as she pushed her glasses up her nose just before reaching back down to the hem of her shirt to fiddle with it as she had been doing before.

“So we can agree on no red and white combos?” Clarke asked with a smile.

“Agreed,” Lexa said in response.

“Are you open to color suggestions?” Clarke heard herself ask quietly.

“Sure,” Lexa replied just as softly.

“I think you should wear green,” Clarke stated, and Lexa looked up at her in question. “It brings out the color in your eyes.”

Lexa blushed as if she had never been complimented before in her life and suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to be able to hide herself under a rock for the rest of eternity. Her face was burning just about as intensely as Clarke's gaze was as she looked over at her, and Lexa wasn't altogether sure what she was going to do in that moment. She wanted to run and hide, to curse herself for buying into Clarke's simple words so deeply, to take a timeout to remind herself that Clarke probably wasn't as interested in her as she is in Clarke, but nothing of the sort happened. In fact as Lexa chanced a look up to Clarke's eyes, she felt her confidence swell and she was speaking before she could even realize the words coming out of her mouth.

“I suppose that means you should wear blue then,” Lexa said without breaking their gaze.

Her heart nearly melted when she saw Clarke flush in embarrassment that time, and Lexa felt herself smiling and unable to tear her eyes away from the other girl. A wave of something akin to fear came washing over Lexa as she realized that the walls she had so diligently constructed around herself might just come tumbling down at the hands, or in this case at the blush, of one strikingly beautiful Clarke Griffin. She swallowed thickly and managed to look away, back down to the trampled grass they were walking over, and waited silently for Clarke to speak again.

“So, I'm assuming since both of our parents want pictures that we should probably meet before the actual dance,” Clarke changed the subject to prevent both of them from becoming even more embarrassed than it seemed they already were.

“Okay,” Lexa agreed with a nod.

“Do you have a car?” Clarke asked, at which Lexa shook her head. “I should come to your house then. I can drive us.”

“You don't, um... you don't want a limo?" Lexa stammered out.

“I didn't really picture you wanting one to be honest,” Clarke said with a shrug. “I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

The simple yet powerful statement rang Lexa's ears while she felt what she could only describe as immense appreciation blossoming in her chest at Clarke's thoughtful words. Surely this, at the very least, Lexa could take as truth and not question the motives behind it. No one as seemingly sweet as Clarke could possibly take Lexa's insecurities of drawing attention to herself into consideration only to turn around and somehow throw it in her face. In fact the more time Lexa spent with the girl, the more she started to believe Anya and Monty and Harper when they told her that Clarke wasn't actually after making a fool out of her.

“You wouldn't be disappointed?” Lexa heard herself ask.

“No,” Clarke answered honestly, “I care more about who I'm going with than how I'm getting there.”

Lexa barely managed to hold back whatever sound she was going to make when she felt Clarke's fingers find her hand, only to feel them slip them together a second later. Her breathing ragged but silent, Lexa resisted the urge to look down at their hands and let her heart hammer away in her chest as she desperately tried to etch this moment into her memories. It was the first time she had ever held someone's hand like this, fingers intertwined, and she immediately felt herself addicted to the feeling of smooth skin against her own palm. As she swallowed and forced herself not to move her fingers in fear that Clarke would retract her hand, Lexa refocused her attention back to the conversation.

“Okay,” Lexa finally responded in a voice just barely louder than a whisper.

They were silent for a few moments as Clarke moved herself even closer to Lexa as they walked so that their joined hands would occasionally brush up against one of their legs. The sensation of Clarke's warm skin on both sides of her hand was just about enough to make Lexa seriously believe she was about to explode, but luckily Clarke's voice brought her back down to reality before it could happen.

“Should we wear flowers on our wrists?” Clarke asked as she looked over to Lexa.

“Do you want to?” Lexa asked quietly as she looked back at Clarke tenderly.

“You can want and not want some things too, Lexa,” Clarke told her with a gentle smile.

“I thought we already covered that with the choice not to take a limousine,” Lexa replied with a small smile of her own.

“Would you not still have rented one if I had asked you to?” Clarke posed as she raised both of her eyebrows.

Lexa just narrowed her eyes in realization and looked back down at the ground, finally allowing herself a small peek at their hands swinging lightly between them as they walked.

“I'll take that as a yes,” Clarke said. “So, flowers?”

“I do love flowers,” Lexa finally replied honestly, “but I guess you already knew that.”

Clarke smiled as she looked down at the ground as they continued to walk. She did know that Lexa loved flowers, which is precisely why she had decided to use a flower in her backdrop of the picture she took to use as her way to ask Lexa to the prom, and Clarke was happy that the brunette had realized that.

“Remind me to shower you with compliments later about how freaking amazing your picture taking skills are,” Clarke said with a small squeeze of her hand around Lexa's. “What other hidden talents do you have?”

“None, trust me,” Lexa responded quickly, “pictures and space are about as deep as I run.”

“I don't believe that for a second,” Clarke said as the playfulness in her expression slipped away, “and you've probably spent your entire life selling yourself short.”

Lexa felt herself hesitate at that, knowing full well that it was true, and she slowed her step until they both came to a stop. As she looked up at Clarke's face, a fresh wave of nervousness grabbed a hold of her for just a few seconds before Lexa took in and let out a deep breath before speaking.

“Clarke, I'm... not used to this...” she began slowly as her eyes wandered over the face in front of her. “I mean, I have Monty and my sister... I know them, and I trust them. I just have a hard time getting to know new people.”

“Do you want to get to know me?” Clarke almost whispered.

Lexa felt herself nod but was somehow aware that both of them already knew what the answer to that question was. She could feel it in the way that Clarke was looking at her, the way sparkling blue eyes were peering past the mask that her glasses would sometimes shield the world away from herself, and Lexa felt herself nearly tremble at the sensation it brought seeping through her veins.

“Then let me get to know you too,” Clarke said as her gaze flicked down to Lexa's full lips.

Lexa could have screamed with joy when a loud cheering from the crowd nearby pulled their attention away from each other for just long enough to remind them of where they were. Her body was nearly shivering with anticipation as she felt herself staring down at Clarke's lips when she noticed the blonde's gaze trained on her own but wasn't sure that she would be capable of delivering anything that even remotely resembled a first kiss with the way both her body and her emotions felt so out of control. They leaned back and connected their gaze with each other's eyes once again before Lexa heard Clarke speaking softly.

“I guess we have our time at the lake tonight to get to know each other even more,” Clarke flirted.

And then Lexa almost fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww, Clexa holding hands ♥
> 
> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy)


	3. Part Three

“Where are Monty and Harper?” Octavia asked Lexa as she looked around the crowd of seniors emptying in the bleachers. “You should invite them to go to the lake with us.”  
  
Lexa looked around her, scanning the crowd for her friends to no avail, and grabbed her phone from the back pocket of her jean shorts to type out a quick text message. She was still slightly hesitant about going to the lake herself, but she figured it might be somewhat comforting if Monty was there. He was her best friend after all and the only person her own age that she felt at ease around no matter the circumstance.  
  
**Lexa Woods: Are you and Harper going to the lake?**  
  
**Monty Green: I think so. Are you?**  
  
Lexa swallowed and brought her phone closer to her chin and typed out a response.  
  
**Lexa Woods: I guess we are. Octavia and Lincoln will be there too.**  
  
**Monty Green: Okay, Harper says we’ll meet you there.**  
  
“They said they will be there,” Lexa told the small group as she shoved her phone away.  
  
Her right hand came up to nervously wind the end of her ponytail through her fingers as she listened to Octavia rattle off details of where and when they should all meet up since they would be taking separate vehicles. When she felt Clarke’s fingers wrap lightly around her unmoving wrist, Lexa turned to look at her in silent question. Apparently Lincoln and Octavia had already started walking away because she and Clarke were standing alone together once again.  
  
“Let’s go,” Clarke said with a smile as she let her hand drop from Lexa’s wrist before turning towards the parking lot.  
  
The sun had officially set, but the sky was still glowing with the impending arrival of dusk before the entire city would be lit only by street lamps and the silvery hues of the moonlight. The air was still, with just a touch of humidity, so it felt more like the middle of a beautiful spring day rather than the early evening of one. The nearer they got to Clarke’s jeep, the more Lexa felt the uneasiness in the pit of her stomach begin to spread through her body making her every move that much more difficult. She’d had this moment in the back of her mind the entire week after Anya had told her about it, but the realization that it was all about to come to a head scared Lexa to no end as familiar doubts came rushing to her mind the more time that passed by.  
  
“Do you know how to swim?” Clarke asked suddenly, breaking Lexa out of her thoughts.  
  
“Yes,” Lexa croaked as she picked at her glossy nail polish.  
  
“Good,” Clarke replied with a big smile, “one less person for me to have to worry about drowning.”  
  
Lexa swallowed nervously and shifted her gaze over towards Clarke. Was the lake really that dangerous at night? Had students actually drowned doing this? Her face must have been showing her sudden fear after hearing the blonde’s last comment, but Clarke was quick to reassure her.  
  
“I was just joking, Lexa,” Clarke told her. “It’s not dangerous or anything. Especially on a night like this with no wind, there won’t even be any waves.”  
  
“Right,” Lexa replied with a small nod.  
  
The remainder of the short drive to the lake was done in relative silence, only a few times did Clarke break the comfortable lull between them, and they no sooner were pulling up to the rather full parking area to the side of the beach than Lexa was being brought out of her own little world at the sound of Clarke’s door popping open. Lexa watched as Clarke flashed her a smile before turning away and hopping out of her truck to head back towards the trunk which she opened quickly and began digging around. With one final steadying breath, Lexa closed her eyes to gather her thoughts and popped her own door open before sliding out of the truck.  
  
“Here,” Clarke said as she presented Lexa with a giant beach towel, “I figured you might forget to bring one.”  
  
“Oh, uh... thanks,” Lexa mumbled as she took a hold of the fluffy towel and hugged it to her chest.  
  
The excited shouts of teenagers resounded in their ears with each step they took, and they could both hear the splashing of those who had already made it into the water or were just then running into the water. Lexa looked ahead to see Octavia and Lincoln already standing and chatting with Monty and Harper, all of whom had apparently had the foresight to bring along beach towels that evening.  
  
Arriving under prepared for something that had gotten her so worked up over the last week had Lexa silently chastising herself as she thought about how embarrassed she would have been to be the only one at the lake without a towel to dry herself off. This was precisely the type of situation she usually shielded herself from so well thus far and made a mental note to thank Clarke for thinking of her when she had grabbed two towels instead of one.  
  
“Ready to get naked?” Octavia asked excitedly as Clarke and Lexa finally made it over to them.  
  
“Seriously, O,” Lincoln cut in, “you are _way_ too excited for this.”  
  
Lexa swallowed nervously. Naked?  
  
“Nuh-uh,” the brunette defended herself, “I just really like to swim.”  
  
“Right,” Lincoln replied as he rolled his eyes.  
  
“Naked?” Lexa heard herself ask.  
  
“Not naked,” Clarke quickly clarified, “Octavia’s just being dramatic.”  
  
“I’m _never_ dramatic,” Octavia said dramatically as she looked over at Lexa.  
  
“For some reason I don’t trust that statement,” Lexa dared to tease back, which earned a hearty laugh from the rest of the group.  
  
“I like you already,” Lincoln said to Lexa just before he got a punch to the arm from his girlfriend.  
  
“Let’s just go,” Octavia said as she rolled her eyes and turned towards the beach.  
  
The rest of the group followed suit and they all looked around as their fellow classmates littered the sandiest part of the shoreline, their clothes in small piles away from the water and situated atop their own towels for when they’d had enough swimming for the night. After a quick survey of those close enough to her to see, Lexa found that most of the girls wore panties and bras that looked much like her own though there were a few that were wearing a bit more risqué looking underclothes than others.  
  
Her train of thoughts was cut short by the sight of Octavia’s shirt being whipped over her head and tossed to the ground just beside her. They had come to a stop at somewhat clear spot in the sand, and Lexa watched in morbid fascination as Octavia stripped herself down to her black panties and leopard printed bra like it was just about the most natural thing in the world to do in front of an audience of other teenagers. Lincoln was quick to follow, whisking off his shirt to reveal a stomach outlined with faint dips and curves of muscles, and he dropped his shorts just as quickly.  
  
“Lincoln!” Octavia screamed in horror as she pointed down at him. “What the hell is that?”  
  
“That’s _really_ not the best thing to yell in front of other people when I’m standing in my underwear, O,” Lincoln said as he clasped his hands over himself.  
  
“You wore white underwear, dummy!” Octavia clarified her outburst as she rolled her eyes.  
  
“So what?” Lincoln asked as everyone else tried not to look down at his tight white boxer briefs.  
  
“So the second they get wet, everyone will see your goods!” Octavia said as she drew her hands to rest on her hips.  
  
Clarke snorted out a laugh as she turned her attention away from the bickering couple and set her towel down on the sand between where she and Lexa stood next to each other. Lexa looked over to see Monty and Harper share a look with each other and smile, not wanting to laugh at Lincoln but finding the situation quite humorous regardless. Suddenly the realization that she herself had chosen a dark gray pair of underwear for the evening put Lexa at momentary ease, knowing she wouldn’t be faced with the same predicament Lincoln was about to have to deal with.  
  
“Well, it’s either this or nothing,” Lincoln said with a shrug of his shoulders as he turned to start walking towards the water.  
  
“Lincoln, wait!” Octavia called after him as she started quickly behind him only for him to start running full speed into the lake and dive in.  
  
“I’m glad I didn’t make _that_ mistake,” Harper piped up as she drew her hands up to the button on her shorts and popped it open.  
  
“Same,” Monty chimed in.  
  
“Yep, same,” Clarke said before looking over at Lexa.  
  
“Yeah,” Lexa replied with a small nod, “me too.”  
  
She watched as Clarke began removing her shoes while settling her fingers on the hem of her shirt, and Lexa began to toe her own sneakers off slowly as she made sure to pace herself while everyone else removed their own clothing. She took another quick swipe of her surroundings and saw, again, a multitude of fellow students undressing before heading into the water to swim or splash each other or swat at a giant beach ball that someone had brought. It all seemed to be exactly as she had expected, no tricks, no pranks, nothing out of the ordinary (as much as the situation _was_ ordinary), but it wasn’t enough to remove all of her trepidation as she began to slowly unbutton her plaid shirt with slightly trembling fingers.  
  
Clarke was down to wearing a black camisole and her shorts by the time Lexa had moved to shrug her outer shirt off her shoulders and down her arms, and they connected their gaze just briefly before Clarke looked away and unbuttoned her shorts before tugging them down her legs. Lexa quickly summoned every last ounce of her willpower to keep her eyes to herself as she saw Clarke pushing her shorts down her legs out of the corner of her eye, and she went to work on her own shorts knowing that she might need a little extra time than normal to remember how to unbutton them and work the zipper since her brain didn’t seem to be processing even the simplest of tasks very efficiently.  
  
She mentally cursed whichever past student it was who had come up with this tradition as she pulled her shorts from her legs and folded them in half before lying them carefully on top of her shirt and borrowed towel. It was no doubt some hormonal teenage boy who just wanted to see the entirety of the female student body running half-naked across the beach without having to go through the trouble of trying to convince them how good an idiotic idea like that would actually be. She unconsciously huffed out a sigh as she fiddled with the bottom hem of her tank top before Clarke’s voice snapped herself out of her thoughts yet again.  
  
“Should we keep our shirts on?” Clarke asked quietly as if she had sensed Lexa’s hesitation to rid herself of it.  
  
“I, uh...” Lexa started and immediately looked down at Clarke’s pale and shapely legs in front of her before snapping her eyes up almost painfully to look back at her face, “uh... no one else is leaving theirs on...”  
  
“That doesn’t mean we can’t,” Clarke said with a shrug.  
  
Lexa looked over at Monty and Harper who were both undressed and looking as though they were trying to avoid each other’s gazes, but they kept stealing shy glances at one other before smiling and looking away. She quickly got the impression that they were about to run off into the lake on their own, about which Lexa didn’t care as she had other things far more pressing on her mind. Like how she was going to keep her own eyes off of Clarke while they stood there so close together and in such little amounts of clothing.  
  
“Come on,” Clarke finally said as she grabbed Lexa’s hand and tugged her towards the water.  
  
Lexa trailed behind, nervously looking around her as she saw Monty and Harper running into the water and well as other students splashing around and dunking each other playfully, and she almost tripped over her own feet the moment she turned her head forward and let her eyes drop to the view of Clarke’s backside just beyond the sight of their joined hands. All moisture seemed to disappear from her mouth as her lips parted, and she watched as Clarke’s hips swayed with every step she took. Lexa had never appreciated the sight of a simple pair of black underwear more as she continued to fail miserably at tearing her eyes away from watching every subtle movement of the blonde’s curves as she drew them both closer and closer to the water.  
  
Just as her own unabashed desire began heating her from the inside out, her complete and utter mortification of being caught staring threatened to undo her right then and there the moment Clarke turned her head around to look back at her. Lexa’s eyes snapped up to Clarke’s face and she instantly tried to back away, more than embarrassed to have been caught checking out her ass as they walked, but Clarke’s hand just squeezed hers tighter as a small smirk began to spread over her lips while she led them both into the shallow water at the edge of the shore.  
  
They walked into the water until it reached about the height of their knees, and Lexa felt herself pulling back slightly harder than before. Her face was flushed and her breathing was shallow as the cool temperature of the water collided roughly with the warmness of her skin, but Clarke kept steady eye contact with her as she walked backwards and pulled her more earnestly as each second slipped by. She noticed a small shimmer in Clarke’s eye as they got far enough into the lake for the water to reach their thighs, and Lexa finally opened her mouth to speak.  
  
“Clarke, wait...” Lexa said as she lifted her other hand so that both were holding Clarke’s one.  
  
Clarke just smiled and shook her head slowly as she continued to lure her deeper into the water and as the shimmer in the blonde’s eye grew into a full-fledged sparkle, Lexa knew exactly what was about to happen. She instinctively reached up to her face to hold her glasses in place, which she had only then realized she had never taken off, and let out a small shriek as Clarke yanked both of them hard and dragged them below the surface of the water.  
  
The muffled sounds of splashing and general merriment above the water came rushing into Lexa’s ears as she felt herself floating for a few moments, still holding tightly onto Clarke’s hand with her own, before she was being tugged up to breathe in the warm air once again. Lexa was barely able to catch her breath before she heard Clarke laughing beside her, and she turned to see the blonde staring back at her with the same sparkle in her eyes as she’d just seen before. With her adrenaline pumping, Lexa detached their hands and made a quick swiping motion towards the top of the water to splash Clarke right in the face, which only earned another string of giggles as Clarke began to swim deeper into the lake.  
  
“You didn’t think you’d be getting your hair wet or something?” Clarke teased as she threw Lexa a smile and blew a few drops of water off her own lips.  
  
“No,” Lexa began, “I just wasn’t ready to go under so fast.”  
  
“I’m just trying to keep you on your toes, Woods,” Clarke replied with a smirk.  
  
“Something tells me that you just being you will keep me on my toes enough,” Lexa managed to tease back.  
  
Clarke immediately feigned offense and batted her own hands at Lexa, successfully splashing her right in the face before continuing to swim around. As the night drew on and the water grew colder most of the students began to retreat back to the sand, still warm from the afternoon sun, and dry off before heading home or wherever it was they wanted to go before their curfew came knocking. Monty and Harper had already left, but Lincoln and Octavia remained actively participating in an energetic yet made up game with the giant beach ball that surprisingly was still without any holes after having been batted around by dozens of students as they swam.  
  
“Ready to call it a night?” Clarke asked as she paddled her way closer to Lexa.  
  
“Yeah,” Lexa quickly responded, “I’m getting cold.”  
  
“Me too,” Clarke said as they made their way towards the shore and trudged out of the water and up onto the beach.  
  
The sand was warm beneath their feet, and Lexa had never been so thankful to see all of her clothes still piled up on Clarke’s towel. It had flashed in her mind multiple times, yet briefly each time, that there might have been someone lurking on the sand ready to snatch her clothes while she was swimming only to leave her half naked for the entire class to stare and laugh at, but much to Lexa’s relief nothing of the sort had happened. She breathed in deeply as she pushed the soft towel against her face, smelling that same vanilla scent she’d noticed in Clarke’s truck earlier, and lightly blotted the lake water from her skin.  
  
Clarke did the same just to the side of Lexa and unfolded her towel before running it up and down her arms and legs, wanting to dry herself as much as possible so that she didn't get the seats in her truck too damp. Lincoln and Octavia made their way out of the water as well, and Clarke tried to suppress a smirk as she saw Octavia occasionally look down at Lincoln's now transparent underwear and instruct him to move his hand this way or that way so as to cover himself as discretely as possible. They stopped beside Clarke and both bent down wordlessly to grab their own towels at the very moment Lexa had turned her back towards Clarke to squeeze some excess water out of her hair with her towel.  
  
At the sight of the brunette's well-toned behind in nothing but a wet pair of cotton underwear, Clarke subconsciously tilted her head to the side as she let her eyes roam lazily over the perfectly rounded flesh. Her mouth had gone dry at some point during her ogle of the girl, and Clarke swallowed roughly just before turning her head to look at Octavia who was looking at Lexa with her eyebrows raised and her head tilted at the same angle as Clarke’s had been. She swatted her friend's shoulder sharply, which earned her a swat back, and she leveled Octavia with a challenging glare. All the brunette did was shrug, and Clarke looked over at Lincoln who had a thumb pointed towards Lexa, still completely unaware of everything happening behind her, as he fanned his face with his other hand.  
  
“ _Lincoln_!” Octavia screamed as she lunged towards him, and they both put a hand over his crotch as she giggled while telling him yet again to cover himself up.  
  
Clarke looked away as the couple's laugh turned into several pecks and playful squeezes, and Lexa turned around when she had heard the commotion behind her. They continued drying themselves off until every last bit of moisture had been wiped from their skin before putting on the rest of their clothes and heading back to their respective vehicles. They said quick goodbyes and Lexa noticed as Clarke blushed after Octavia winked at her, and she furrowed her brow suddenly wondering what the wordless interaction meant.  
  
“So, did you have a good time?” Clarke asked somewhat hesitantly as she pulled out of her parking spot and headed out to the main road.  
  
“The game was fun,” Lexa said quietly as she played with the corners of the towel she had laid out on the passenger seat in Clarke's truck before sitting down.  
  
“You didn't like the swimming part, did you?” Clarke asked hesitantly.  
  
“It was alright, I guess,” Lexa said quietly before looking up at Clarke, “did you like it?”  
  
Clarke struggled to keep a straight face as she thought about her answer, not wanting Lexa to know what was running through her mind as she said it.  
  
“I liked parts of it,” she managed to get out with only a faint smirk on her lips, “and I'm happy you came along.”  
  
Lexa just returned a small smile and went back to fiddling with the towel for the remainder of the ride back to her house. It was well before midnight, despite her father's request, but Lexa was looking forward to hopping into a warm shower and changing into clean clothes as what she was wearing felt damp, cold, and quite uncomfortable. They pulled into Lexa's driveway a few minutes later, and Lexa turned her head towards Clarke to say goodnight.  
  
“Should I walk you to the door?” Clarke asked quietly before an expression of embarrassment washed over her face as if she had regretted asking for some reason or another.  
  
Clarke was mentally kicking herself for voicing the question out loud. She had been thinking it in her head, not intending it to come out of her mouth, and wanted nothing more than to be able to stuff it back in with all of the other stupid things she had managed not to say during the course of the evening. She knew the minute she had asked it that she shouldn't have _asked_ , she should have just _acted_.  
  
“I'll walk you,” Clarke spit out as she popped her door open and scrambled out of her truck.  
  
Lexa followed suit and left her wet towel behind, though she was itching to take it with her so that she could wash it herself before giving it back. It almost seemed like she was taking advantage of Clarke by leaving it there in a damp pile for her just to have to deal with later but after only a few seconds of hesitation, Lexa closed the truck door and followed Clarke up the walkway and onto her porch before reaching out for the handle on her front door. She was about to just let herself into her house but figured if Clarke had gone to the trouble to walk her to the door that the least she should do was offer a proper goodbye.  
  
“Thanks for coming with tonight,” Clarke finally broke the silence as she pushed her hands into the back pockets of her shorts.  
  
“Thank you for extending an invitation to me,” Lexa replied quietly while her one hand remained on the handle of the door.  
  
She mentally cringed at her formal choice of words, but Clarke just smiled sweetly in return almost as if she had liked what Lexa had said and how she had said it. She couldn't help but notice Clarke's intentional gaze as the stood there on the porch together, not moving or speaking, and Lexa nervously slid her glasses up her nose as she lowered her eyes toward the wood floor beneath her. Before she even knew what was happening, all time seemed to stop between the few seconds it took Clarke to lean forward and place a light kiss on her cheek and the time she pulled back to look Lexa squarely in the eyes as her own cheeks reddened.  
  
“Okay, bye,” Clarke said abruptly before turning on her heels and walking off the porch and back towards her truck.  
  
Lexa stood stuck to the floor as if her feet had been cemented there, her hand still on the door handle, as she replayed the last thing her brain could even remember which was the feeling of Clarke's softer than silk lips pressing down on her skin to leave a warm tingling sensation Lexa was sure she would be able to feel for the rest of the night. Her fingers ghosted over her cheek as she watched Clarke's truck reverse down her driveway before she slowly put her free hand to work and let herself into the house.  
  
Gustus was sitting in the living room reading a book as Lexa walked in and was just about to complain about how early she was home until he noticed her hair no longer it its ponytail and completely wet as if she had just been caught in a rain shower. Her shirt clung to her body as it stuck to the damp tank top underneath, and Lexa looked over at her father before pushing herself off of the front door she had leaned herself against and began heading towards the staircase. He narrowed his eyes at her as she maintained eye contact with him but neither of them said a word as Lexa walked through the entry way and slipped up the stairs. All he did was chuckle from his seat before turning his attention back to the book he'd been reading before she had come home.

* * *

  
“Good morning!” Anya yelled into Lexa's ear as she hovered over her bed. “Time to get your lazy ass up!”  
  
“Ugh... what the fuck, Anya...” Lexa mumbled against her pillow as she attempted to bury her face deeper.  
  
“Do you whisper sweet nothings into Clarke's ear with that mouth?” Anya teased as she poked her index finger hard into her younger sister's ribs.  
  
“Go away,” Lexa said with a muffled voice just before her pillow was being swiped from under her head and whacked against her backside over the covers on her bed.  
  
“Take a shower so we can leave,” Anya demanded while she pulled the pillow away from Lexa as she snatched for it.  
  
“I took a shower last night,” Lexa grumbled, “let me sleep.”  
  
“You're a grown ass woman,” Anya continued, “take another one and let's get moving.”  
  
Lexa sighed when she heard Anya finally leave her room to head downstairs, and she lifted her head to look for the pillow her sister had so unceremoniously swept out from underneath her only to find that it had vanished from her bedroom as well. With a small grunt, Lexa flung her blankets off her body and shuffled sleepily towards the bathroom to take a shower and hopefully wake herself up a bit more thoroughly. The events of the previous night had taken a toll on her and even after a full eight hours of sleep Lexa still felt exhausted. Luckily the hot shower she stood under for a good twenty minutes seemed to do the trick, and she regained enough energy to not want to crawl back into her bed and wish that she didn’t have to go shopping.  
  
“I had enough time to request and consume a gourmet breakfast àla Chef Gustus Woods while you were showing and doing who the _hell_ knows what else up there,” Anya announced as her younger sister walked into the kitchen, “so what I’m trying to say is, thanks for finally gracing us with your presence.”  
  
“Then just _say_ that,” Lexa quipped as she headed over to the cabinet she knew her Pop-Tarts were stashed in and quickly pulled one out of its box.  
  
“Don’t you want something better than that?” Gustus asked as he pointed to the small silver package in his youngest daughters hands. “How about an omelet or some french toast like Miss Queen Snooty-Pants over there requested?”  
  
Lexa snorted out a laugh when her sister shot their father a glare but politely declined his offer. She knew that the sooner she and Anya got out shopping, the sooner they would be done, and the sooner Lexa could come home and relax before starting in on her mountain of homework she felt like she had since she didn’t have the time to do any the previous day after school due to the baseball game and the events at the lake immediately thereafter.  
  
“Alright, well, have fun shopping,” Gustus said as he moved over to the sink to start washing the dishes he had dirtied while making breakfast, “and take my credit card.”  
  
Anya immediately sprung up from her seat at the kitchen table and practically skipped over to where his wallet was lying on the counter. She flipped it open and pulled out his credit card, pocketing it immediately, and started towards the front door.  
  
“Use it for the dress only!” Gustus shouted at Anya, knowing full well that she would probably just use it as an excuse for a shopping spree.  
  
“Thanks, Dad,” Lexa told her father before turning to head out of the kitchen.  
  
“Have fun, kid,” he said with a smile, and Lexa disappeared into the hallway.  
  
The drive to the mall, which Anya had insisted they go to first, went relatively quickly. Even though Lexa was feeling a bit nervous to spend her late morning and afternoon trying on dress after dress most likely surrounded by countless other senior girls doing the same thing, the presence of her older sister helped her keep it together just enough to keep her relatively calm at least for the time being. They bickered like most sisters do almost the entire way from the house to the mall, and Anya even picked a small argument with Lexa when she saw a few crumbs from her younger sister’s to-go breakfast decorating the passenger’s seat of her car. Lexa simply wiped them off with her hand before giving Anya a dramatic eye roll and heading towards the massive building ahead of them.  
  
“So what kind of dress are we looking for?” Anya asked as she scanned the mall directory to see where the appropriate dress stores were in relation to the entrance they had parked outside of.  
  
“A prom dress,” Lexa deadpanned as she shot her older sister a look.  
  
“I’m aware of _that_ , dumbass,” Anya snapped. “What style? Long? Short? Cleavage? No cleavage? High slit? No slit?”  
  
“Green,” Lexa blurted out before she had let her brain fully process all of what Anya had just rattled off. “A green dress.”  
  
“A green dress?” Anya echoed as she raised her eyebrows and turned to start walking towards their first store.  
  
“Clarke... suggested it...” Lexa explained with a shrug. “I mean, it’s not like I _have_ to get a green dress but it would probably look nice. I don’t know.”  
  
“Green is good,” Anya answered with a faint smirk playing at the corner of her lips.  
  
Lexa readjusted her glasses quickly as she matched Anya’s pace, following alongside of her carefully since she wasn’t sure where they were even going, and began overthinking the reason for them being there at that very moment looking for the very thing she would wear to the very event she never thought she’d be attending. Her cheeks flushed with a dusting of pink as questions swirled in her head about whether this would all turn out to be just a dream or a devastating trick that would come back to haunt her until she was old and gray. The what ifs were so thick in her mind she almost felt like choking, never allowing herself more than a second of clarity before another irrational fear came surging to the forefront.  
  
What if someone pulls a prank on her at the dance?  
  
What if she is brought to the dance only to be ditched?  
  
What if... what if Clarke never shows to pick her up?  
  
Lexa swallowed thickly as thoughts of Clarke began pouring into her head, and she began to feel almost nauseous as she remembered how wonderful it had felt being close to her the previous night. She had honestly felt that when she had held Clarke’s hand at the baseball game it was the best and most memorable moment of her life until a few hours later when she had felt the brush of Clarke’s lips against her cheek. _That_ , Lexa could easily say, was the best and most memorable moment of her life and she couldn’t help but feel terrified about the possibility of Clarke ending up breaking through her carefully constructed walls only to crush her heart in the end.  
  
As they walked into the enormous dress store Anya had directed them to, Lexa quickly took a moment to look around the room. There were mannequins outfitted with sample gowns in just about every imaginable color and style lining the perimeter of the shop with dozens of young girls, presumably Lexa’s age, flitting excitedly between rows and clusters of dresses as they plucked out whichever ones they found to be the most beautiful.  
  
And it was as if an alarm bell went off in Lexa’s head the moment it dawned on her that nearly everyone in the store were senior high schoolers, she froze mid-step and searched desperately for any trace of familiar faces. Her heart began to pump wildly in her chest as she realized she might run to Clarke, given that neither of them had been shopping for their dresses yet. She slowly inched backwards as if to slip out of the shop unnoticed and turned around just to gently bump into her sister in her haste to leave. Anya let another small smirk slip across her face as she looked at her nervous little sister before they met each other’s gaze, and Lexa’s eyes widened slowly with each passing second.  
  
“What if I see her here?” Lexa asked timidly.  
  
“Chill, Lex,” Anya said as she let a small chuckle bubble up from her throat, “it’s not like your shopping for a wedding dress or something.”  
  
Lexa was about to protest until she felt Anya’s hands on her arms, turning her back around and pushing her deeper into the store.  
  
“Look,” Anya said as she pointed over Lexa’s shoulder from behind her, “green dresses are right over there.”  
  
They continued walking straight towards the area Anya had pointed out, and Lexa let a small sigh slip past her lips when she looked at what seemed to be hundreds of green dresses ranging in shade and style hanging up and ready to be looked through. There weren’t a lot of other girls around, and Lexa immediately wondered whether she should be focusing more on a pink dress which is where most of them were hovering. Maybe green wasn’t the right color to wear?  
  
“Maybe I should get pink,” Lexa said as she kept her eyes trained on the other girls huddled on the opposite side of the store.  
  
“Pink?” Anya asked as she stopped filing through the rack of dresses she’d just begun looking at. “I thought you said green.”  
  
“Nobody’s over here,” Lexa as her eyes remained trained on the other side of the store, “maybe green is a dumb color to wear?”  
  
“It’s not,” Anya said seriously after a look of confusion flashed across her face. “Plus, you hate wearing pink.”  
  
“What if I’m the only one there in a green dress?” Lexa asked as she turned her attention back to her sister. “What if it’s like some unwritten rule that you don’t wear green to the prom?”  
  
“It’s not,” Anya repeated as she shoved a dress into Lexa’s hands without so much as looking at her only to return to searching through the row of dresses she had started on.  
  
“I don’t like this one,” Lexa said as soon as she had taken a quick survey of the garment Anya had given to her.  
  
“Try it on first,” Anya started, “then decide whether you like it or not.”  
  
Lexa frowned at her sister’s insistence but eventually gave in and draped the dress over her forearm as she watched Anya continue her hunt. Another dress was held out to her to take but Lexa didn’t take it, noticing immediately that it was much too short than what she would ever be comfortable with wearing. Anya finally looked up at her with a singular eyebrow raised in question as if to ask why the hell wasn’t she taking the dress.  
  
“I don’t like that one,” Lexa repeated herself before quickly adding, “it’s too short.”  
  
Anya rolled her eyes and pulled the dress back before slipping it on to the rack again and presenting a new one to Lexa while giving Lexa a ‘you better take this one’ look. A small unimpressed twitch of her mouth let Anya know immediately that Lexa didn’t particularly like that dress either, but before she could pull it back Lexa’s hand had wrapped around the hanger and tugged it from her hands. Lexa was more than aware that if she rejected every dress her sister offered, she would probably be left alone in the store after too long.  
  
Much to Anya’s initial protests, Lexa had insisted that she join her in the dressing room as she assured her that there was no chance she would step foot outside the door just to be judged by dozens of other teenagers while she tried on dress after dress from the mountain Anya had given her by the time they had looked through every choice of green dress in the entire store. They walked into a large room in the back corner of the dressing area, and Anya immediately sat down on the tiny bench that was tucked into the room as Lexa began to hang all of the dresses onto the various pegs screwed into the walls and on the back of the door.  
  
“Holy hell, Lexa!” Anya exclaimed in a whisper, after Lexa had demanded before they even got inside that she not raise her voice in fear of someone else listening in on their conversation.  
  
Lexa said nothing and waited for Anya to continue, reaching down to unbutton her shorts to let them fall into a heap atop the shirt she had just taken off.  
  
“You look like a woman!” Anya finished as she looked her little sister up and down with a shocked expression on her face.  
  
“As opposed to what?” Lexa snapped, suddenly feeling self-conscious under her sister’s innocent gaze.  
  
“As opposed to the gangly little girl you used to be before _this_ happened,” Anya said as she pointed from one of Lexa’s breasts to the other.  
  
“Shut up,” Lexa hissed as she swatted Anya’s hand.  
  
“Did Clarke like totally try to jump your bones at the lake?” Anya asked as a smirk spilled across her lips.  
  
Lexa’s eyes bulged nearly out of her head as she whirled around and looked her older sister straight in the face while pointing a warning finger at her.  
  
“Don’t say her name in here!” Lexa whispered harshly. “What if she walked in and we didn’t know it?”  
  
“Then she still wouldn’t know any better because we’re in here whispering like fucking idiots!” Anya whispered back just as harshly.  
  
“I swear, if you embarrass me more than I already am just by being here,” Lexa warned, “I will disown you forever. I mean it.”  
  
Anya rolled her eyes at the finger being thrust in her face but said nothing else, wanting Lexa to calm down and start trying on dresses seeing as they had quite a stack to go through after their stop at only their first out of four stores listed on the mall directory that sold dresses for this type of occasion. As Lexa took her first dress off of its hanger, Anya frowned and suddenly stood up with her hands on her own chest.  
  
“Are your boobs bigger than mine?” Anya asked, only to have Lexa turn around and looked down at her sister’s hands.  
  
“I don’t care about your boobs,” she said as she pushed at Anya’s shoulder, “get away from me.”  
  
Anya gave her sister a stinging slap to her bare arm before sitting back down on her little bench and waiting for Lexa to finish pulling on her first dress. Lexa barely got it situated on her shoulders before she looked at her reflection in the mirror with an expression of absolute horror and immediately tugged the dress back down to the floor and hung it up. Anya snorted out a laugh and watched in amusement as Lexa did almost the same thing over and over again as each dress she tried on was apparently more hideous than the last.  
  
“It’s fine, Lex,” Anya said as she followed her sister out of the dressing room empty-handed, “we still have three more stores to find the perfect green dress of Clarke’s dreams.”  
  
Lexa rolled her eyes and let out a defeated sigh, knowing that Anya was right but still feeling disappointed that she hadn’t found anything she even remotely liked in the giant stack of dresses she had just tried on. Just the thought of doing the same at three more stores exhausted her, and that was all before shopping for shoes which Anya had insisted they do after finding a dress. Luckily Clarke was nowhere to be seen during their walk to the second store, and Lexa was relieved as the idea of running into the blonde that afternoon didn’t sit well with her and wanted nothing more than to get through the day without seeing a single person she recognized.  
  
“Lexa!”  
  
_Shit._  
  
Lexa lifted her head towards the familiar voice to see Harper standing about ten feet away from her with a friendly smile on her face. She took a small breath before curling her lips into a reciprocating smile and closed the distance between them.  
  
“Hey, Harper,” Lexa greeted as Anya followed closely behind her.  
  
“So how long have you been at it?” Harper asked knowingly.  
  
“About an hour,” Lexa replied quietly as she scanned the store for more familiar faces, “this is our second stop.”  
  
Harper nodded in understanding as she looked past Lexa's shoulders at Anya.  
  
“This is my older sister, Anya,” Lexa said as she gestured over her shoulder.  
  
“I'm Harper,” she said to Anya with a small wave of her hand.  
  
“Hey,” Anya replied with a subtle upwards tilt of her chin.  
  
“I just got here and am already finding it very overwhelming,” Harper said as her eyes widened and looked around the store.  
  
“I know what you mean,” Lexa replied quietly as Anya squeezed Lexa's forearm as if to say she was going to go look around.  
  
“So are you and Clarke coordinating dresses?” Harper asked. “I'm still not sure what I want Monty to do with his tie yet.”  
  
“I, uh... we... just discussed which colors not to wear,” Lexa explained.  
  
“Oh, okay,” Harper said as she nodded her head. “I'll probably just buy him a tie after I find my dress so that I can be sure it doesn't clash.”  
  
“Right,” Lexa replied uneasily, “good idea.”  
  
It wasn't that she was _totally_ uncomfortable around Harper, it was just that she didn't know the girl very well and every time she had been around her previously Monty was there to act as a buffer. It was almost like Harper could sense Lexa's discomfort and quickly excused herself to go back to her own shopping so that Lexa could meet up with Anya who had made her way to the back of the store where the majority of the green dresses were.  
  
“Lex, I found it,” Anya said excitedly as soon as Lexa was in earshot. “I found your dress. _The_ dress.”  
  
Oh, how Lexa hoped that would be true.  
  
“Go try it on!” Anya told her as she shoved the dress into Lexa's hands before pushing her towards the fitting room area.  
  
“What makes you so sure this is _the_ dress?” Lexa asked as she let herself be pushed into the largest room.  
  
She noticed Anya hadn't followed her in and opened the door only to motion impatiently for her older sister to come in. Anya rolled her eyes but complied, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind them. Lexa began removing her clothes quickly as she eyed the dress hanging from the door. It was dark green, long and sleek, and the top swooped to the side in a single thick strap that would cover her left shoulder. The fabric was soft and the style was plain, something that spoke to Lexa's taste, and she almost let herself smile when she felt the cool fabric slide effortlessly over her hips and down her legs to pool on the floor about an inch too long as she stood in her bare feet.  
  
“Was I not one hundred percent correct?” Anya asked as she smirked and looked at Lexa's expression in the reflection of the mirror.  
  
“Maybe,” Lexa admitted softly while she turned herself to one side and then to the other as she made sure the dress looked flattering from every angle. “Okay, I guess you were right.”  
  
“You look beautiful, Lex,” Anya said in a rare serious tone of voice. “Now take it off so we can buy it and go find you some shoes.”  
  
“Right!” Lexa exclaimed as she started removing the dress. “That means we’re almost done!”  
  
Anya just chuckled at her sister’s excitement to be done with their day of shopping and waited patiently as Lexa rid herself of the dress and threw on her own clothes hastily before all but exploding out of the dressing room. With a quick swipe of their father’s credit card and the dress packed neatly in a paper shopping bag, Lexa and Anya walked out of the shop and towards Anya’s favorite shoe store to find appropriate footwear which Lexa was thrilled to find within about only twenty minutes of shopping.  
  
Anya did manage to drag Lexa into three more stores where she bought a few things for herself with her father’s money, making sure to point out that she was just a poor University student after all, and spent more than enough on lunch for them both at their favorite pizza place before finally heading home in the late afternoon. Thankfully Anya was able to sweet talk her way out of getting into any trouble spending a little extra money on clothes and food and after a bit of witty banter and a few inappropriate jokes, Anya bid her sister farewell with a promise to return the following weekend to help Lexa with doing her hair before the dance.

* * *

 

“I don’t think you’re doing it right,” Lexa said softly as she winced at her hair being pulled.  
  
“I know how to braid a braid,” Anya snapped, never stilling her fingers as they twisted between Lexa’s long dark locks.  
  
“It feels weird,” Lexa continued as she moved her head back and forth a few times.  
  
They had just started on Lexa’s hair after she had washed and dried it and after about ten minutes of trying to describe how Lexa wanted it to be styled, Anya finally suggested that they simply start to try and not waste any more time. There was still makeup and nails to do, and Lexa was already a basket case thinking that they wouldn’t be done on time.  
  
“This is how _you_ said you wanted it,” Anya pointed out as she continued undeterred.  
  
“I know but...” Lexa started slowly, “are you sure you’re doing it right?”  
  
“Well, considering this hairstyle is something that you created in your mind,” Anya began with a huff, “no I’m not sure that I’m doing it right.”  
  
“Just let me see it,” Lexa pleaded as she brought her hand up to the braid and ran her fingers down the length of it.  
  
With another huff of annoyance, Anya moved her hand to give Lexa enough room to turn to look at herself in the mirror just to the side of them in Lexa’s bedroom. With a gently scrunched brow, Lexa surveyed Anya’s handiwork, not completely hating it but knowing it could look slightly better if they started over on the lower part of the braid. Lexa had imagined her hair down, swept to the side and cascading over her shoulder in loose curls with an intricate single braid starting just below her right ear and following the bottom of her hairline across the back of her neck and draping over to the opposite side. But like Anya had pointed out, it was a hairstyle that Lexa had only imagined so perfecting an idea as opposed to copying a picture was proving to be quite difficult.  
  
“Let’s just redo it from here,” Lexa said as she pointed to a spot about mid-way down the already completed braid, “and I think it will be perfect.”  
  
“Fine,” Anya replied quickly as she loosened the braid to the point Lexa had requested and began again.  
  
After Lexa had deemed the braid good enough, they got to work finishing her look by curling the ends of her hair loosely and working in some light product to help everything stay in its place for the duration of the dance. Lexa had expressly stated that her makeup was to be light but Anya took a few liberties when applying her eyeliner, figuring that Lexa would only throw a small fit when she saw her completed look.  
  
And damn did she look good.  
  
“ _Damn_ , you look good,” Anya said as she stepped back from her sister who was now standing in front of her in her dark green dress and new black heels.  
  
“I look stupid,” Lexa said quietly as she stood looking at herself in front of her full-length mirror, “this is stupid.”  
  
“You don’t look stupid,” Anya insisted.  
  
“I do!” Lexa nearly shouted. “This isn’t me!”  
  
“Why not?” Anya asked as she crossed her arms.  
  
“Because...” Lexa began as she looked down at herself, “I–I don’t wear stuff like this...”  
  
“Neither do I, unless it’s a special occasion,” Anya pointed out as she stepped up behind her younger sister and put a hand on her shoulder, “prom is a special occasion and you look gorgeous.”  
  
Lexa sighed loudly, still not believing her sister completely, and ran her hands nervously over the fabric of her dress as if she was trying to smooth out invisible wrinkles in it.  
  
“What if she doesn’t show up?” Lexa asked as her eyes widened. She had thought it a million times in her head but hadn’t said it out loud until that moment. “What if I went through all of this, and she doesn’t even show up?”  
  
“She’s going to show up, Lex,” Anya told her.  
  
“I am so stupid,” Lexa said under her breath as she shook her head.  
  
Her nervous energy not to be denied, Lexa began pacing around her room as her heels clicked against the wood floor in her room until Anya had stepped directly in front of her with what could only be described as a ‘pissed as all get out’ expression on her face before she lifted her hand and flicked her younger sister’s forehead pointedly.  
  
“Lexa!”  
  
The brunette said nothing as her mouth fell open and her hand raised up to soothe her forehead, and Anya continued speaking.  
  
“You are _not_ stupid,” she said slowly. “ _This_ is not stupid. You are about to go to the prom with a beautiful girl who you described to me as being, and I quote, incredible so there isn’t anything stupid about anyone or anything. You just need to take a deep breath... and relax... and tell yourself that tonight is going to be awesome.”  
  
Lexa took a few moments to do exactly that, taking a deep breath in and then letting it out slowly, but was still feeling the world spinning around her as each minute grew time closer to when Clarke was due to pick her up. After throwing out a lame excuse that Lexa barely even listened to, Anya made her way downstairs to warn her father about how nervous Lexa was and made sure he didn’t rock the boat by being too Dad-like (for lack of a better word) when Clarke finally arrived. It was only when the quiet padding of feet down the stairs sounded that Anya and Gustus tore their attention away from each other to watch Lexa come into view at the bottom of the stairs.  
  
Gustus was determined not to embarrass his youngest and shyest daughter on the night of her prom, and held himself in check as he walked over to Lexa with a smile on his face that grew wider with each step he took. He hadn’t seen a more beautiful vision, he thought, and reached his arms out to envelope her in a gentle hug against his chest before Anya was yelling at him not to ruin her hair.  
  
“You look stunning, Miss Woods,” Gustus said formally as he held her hand and bowed, “and may I be so bold as to ask for a dance?”  
  
“There’s not even any music playing, Dad,” Lexa pointed out as she rolled her eyes.  
  
As if on cue, Anya changed the TV to a salsa music channel and chuckled at the even bigger eye roll Lexa gave to them both as Gustus tugged her into the living room and began twisting his body in time with the beat. The sight of such a broad and muscular man moving like he was made it impossible not to laugh, and Lexa felt a small giggle bubble up from her throat as she was made to start moving to the beat as well. Anya watched on for a few minutes as her dad and younger sister danced around the room, and she was suddenly very aware that the distraction was precisely what her father had in mind the moment he had asked Lexa to dance. When the lights from a car streaked through the tall window next to the front door, Anya internally rejoiced that Lexa’s date had showed up and she managed to slip outside without Lexa noticing.  
  
“So you’re Clarke, I assume?” Anya asked as a blonde in a dark blue dress came walking around a quite expensive looking car towards her.  
  
“That’s me,” Clarke said with a polite but nervous half-smile on her lips.  
  
“I’m Anya,” she said as she crossed her arms over her chest, “the older sister.”  
  
“Nice to meet you,” Clarke replied quickly, “though I think we have technically met before once... at one of Lexa’s birthday parties in like... first grade or something.”  
  
“Mmmm,” Anya hummed in response. “That’s a nice car you have there. Did your parents buy it for you?”  
  
“No,” Clarke answered as she fiddled with the small plastic container in her hands, “it’s my mom’s car.”  
  
“And what is it your mom does?” Anya questioned as she tilted her head to the side.  
  
“She’s a doctor,” Clarke replied automatically, “a surgeon.”  
  
“And your dad?”  
  
“He’s an engineer,” Clarke said before raising a solitary eyebrow. “Um... so no offense or anything, because your interrogation skills are pretty great, but shouldn’t Lexa’s _dad_ be the one asking me these questions?”  
  
Anya narrowed her eyes at the younger girl before speaking.  
  
“He is under strict instructions not to embarrass her this evening,” Anya explained. “I however am not.”  
  
“Oh,” Clarke replied quietly and looked down at her feet.  
  
“Though it’s certainly not my intention to embarrass my little sister,” Anya continued, “is it yours?”  
  
“What?” Clarke asked as she whipped her head up to meet Anya’s gaze. “N–no of course not.”  
  
“So what _are_ your intentions with her exactly?”  
  
“Um...” Clarke started to say, “to just... have a nice time with her tonight?”  
  
“Are you asking me or telling me?” Anya questioned as she narrowed her eyes.  
  
“Telling you,” Clarke said quickly which earned her a surprised look from Anya, at which Clarke just sighed. “I’m just a little nervous. I have a hard enough time carrying on a conversation with Lexa when all she responds with is a few words at a time so thinking that we’re going to be spending the entire night together makes me... I don’t know... scared and excited at the same time, you know? Like I’m scared to say something stupid every time I have to talk, but I can’t help but be excited to be around her so that I can get to know her better...”  
  
Anya’s glare had softened at some point during the younger girl’s nervous rant, and she uncrossed her arms to try and put Clarke at ease. She seemed to understand and sighed in relief when Anya didn’t continue with her questioning but rather turned towards the door and opened it to let Clarke inside. As her heart pounded in her chest, Clarke stepped through the doorway and immediately let her eyes fall on Lexa, mid-dip in her dance and looking more breathtaking that she ever thought possible, and smiled widely as she heard Lexa laugh heartily and throw her head back as her father lowered her even more in his arms. As they straightened up, Lexa’s gaze found Clarke’s and the smile that had been pulling at the corners of her mouth dropped and her eyes widened in surprise and embarrassment.  
  
“Clarke!” Lexa exclaimed quietly, pulling herself away from her father and smoothing her hair out subconsciously. “Um... I, uh... hello.”  
  
“Hello,” Clarke replied with a smile and bit the inside of her lip to stop from giggling at the brunette’s flustered yet formal greeting.  
  
“Clarke!” Gustus nearly shouted. “You’re just in time for pictures!”  
  
Lexa forced herself not to roll her eyes and walked a few paces towards Clarke. Her heart was racing as relief that Clarke had actually showed up began washing over her body, but she couldn’t seem to shake what was bordering on terror from quickly latching onto her thoughts and actions. She felt her hands trembling as she watched Clarke walk towards her holding a small container, but it wasn’t before long that it was being popped open and a small cluster of blue flowers was being extended towards her.  
  
“I’m glad you decided on wearing a green dress after all because I bought the flowers to coordinate,” Clarke rambled as she stretched the elastic piece wide enough for Lexa to slide her hand through. “Since we weren’t planning on matching dresses, I thought if you wore green and I wore blue that I could wear green flowers and you could wear blue flowers and we could match that way.”  
  
Anya stopped herself from laughing at the blonde’s nervous rant and watched as Lexa remained silent as she allowed Clarke to pull the flowers over her hand to rest on her wrist. Lexa nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt the soft pads of Clarke’s fingertips purposefully graze down the back of her hand and flicked her eyes up to clear blue ones for just a split second before Gustus was breaking the silence with his request for pictures.  
  
They posed for just a few before Lexa started to get antsy, not wanting to make a bigger deal out of memorializing the moment if it didn’t turn out the way she hoped it would, and after a few tame but still quite lame ‘Dad jokes’ Gustus finally shooed them towards the door to be on their way. Just before they were about to walk out, he stopped Clarke with a hand on her wrist.  
  
“I’m not going to tell you again,” he started out in his most serious tone, “do _not_ bring her home before midnight.”  
  
Clarke smiled and let out a small sigh of relief when she realized he was just giving her a hard time and waved goodbye to him and Anya before heading out to her mother’s car. They got themselves situated in silence, and Clarke didn’t waste any time putting the car into reverse and backing down the driveway. She was excited to get to the school and show off her absolutely stunning date and even more excited to start an entire night together with the person she had the biggest crush of her life on.  
  
Biggest crush of her life. Clarke’s breathing turned wild and erratic as she thought about the fact that she had never felt anything so strongly for anyone in her entire life up until that point and was almost tempted to roll down the windows and scream it at the top of her lungs. She wouldn’t dare though and wracked her brain desperately for just the right words to convey her thoughts at that moment. With only a second of hesitation, Clarke opened her mouth and heard herself speak.  
  
“You look really pretty tonight,” she said before stealing a glance over at Lexa.  
  
“You too,” Lexa finally replied after a few moments of silence as she fiddled with the flowers on her wrist.  
  
Clarke couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

* * *

 

“ **CLARKE**!”  
  
Both Clarke and Lexa turned their heads toward the sound of Octavia’s excited voice and watched as the brunette ran towards them, dragging an amused looking Lincoln behind her, and wrapped her best friend up in a warm hug. Lexa smiled politely when Octavia hugged her too, thoroughly confused at first but quickly realizing that it was probably just something Clarke and her friends did when they saw each other.  
  
“You guys look great!” She said with a smile before pointing to Lincoln. “Look at how good this one cleans up!”  
  
“I have to admit, Lincoln,” Clarke began with a smile on her face, “this is a big step up from the tighty whities you were sporting at the beach.”  
  
“Agreed!” Octavia laughed as she nudged her boyfriend.  
  
“You look beautiful, O,” Clarke said as she took a step back and admired her friend’s dress.  
  
Lexa just smiled and nodded as Clarke and Octavia spoke, not quite sure how to respond or interject into the conversation, and it was only a second later that Octavia was off on another subject altogether. She took a few seconds to look around the school gym, letting her eyes linger on the lavish decorations and energetic students already dancing, before resting her gaze on the long table of refreshments. Lexa almost couldn’t believe how many different treats and drinks were laid out atop clean white tablecloths, but she suddenly felt more parched than she had even realized and itched to get something cool to drink.  
  
“Do you want anything to drink?” Lexa heard herself ask Clarke with only a tiny amount of desperation in her voice.  
  
“Sure,” Clarke said with a smile, “whatever you’re getting is fine.”  
  
Lexa nodded and walked quickly over to the table to grab a pre-poured cup of something that looked like party punch and downed it in a few quick gulps. After tossing the now empty plastic cup into the trash just behind the refreshments table, she grabbed two more and took a deep breath before turning to head back towards Clarke and her friends but before she could make it a few steps a large object moved directly in front of her to successfully block her path.  
  
“Hey Laura,” Finn greeted Lexa with a sarcastic smile.  
  
“Lexa,” she corrected him with a challenging glare.  
  
“Right, Lexa,” Finn repeated with a shallow nod. “I almost didn’t recognize you without your glasses.”  
  
Lexa said nothing and stepped to the side to get around him but was met with Finn who had matched her step and placed himself in front of her once again. She clenched her jaw and looked at him, mentally preparing herself for the worst but hoping for some miraculous reason he was just joking with her and was about to turn and leave.  
  
“Have you seen Clarke?” He asked, feigning innocence. “She told me earlier today that she couldn’t wait to see me here.”  
  
Lexa swallowed thickly, her throat suddenly dry again, and opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.  
  
“She was pretty disappointed when I didn’t ask her to be my date, you know,” Finn continued and stepped in front of Lexa again when she tried to move past him.  
  
“I guess I just waited a little too long,” Finn said with a shrug, “so she asked you instead.”  
  
Her heart sank in her chest as she let Finn’s words wash over her. She was trying so hard to resist the urge to believe him, but her insecurities came rushing back with full force as she stood motionless and unable to respond as Finn continued.  
  
“It’s not like I’m telling you this to make you feel bad or anything,” Finn said, “I just figure you’d want to have a good time tonight instead of being lead on before she ends the night with me.”  
  
And there it was. Lexa had been so sure of this moment. She had known from the start, all along, that the day Clarke Griffin asked her to the prom was the day hell froze over, and her heart broke. Her breath caught in her throat as her chest felt like it was collapsing in on itself, silently imploding under the weight of all her hopes finally crumbling as reality set in. The punch in the plastic cups began to ripple as her hands began to shake with disappointment, embarrassment, and fear, and she felt a single tear escape from the far corner of her eye and trickle down her cheek. And just as she was about to let the cups slip from her trembling hands and run until her lungs burned, an angry voice pierced through the silence between them.  
  
“You’re a _fucking_ liar, Finn Collins,” Clarke snarled from just behind him.  
  
Lexa gulped and clenched her jaw to stop herself from crying any more, and Finn’s eyes nearly popped out of his head as he whipped around to see Clarke standing with her hands on her hips and looking more livid than he had ever seen her before.  
  
“Clarke, I–”  
  
“Save it,” Clarke snapped as she took the cups of punch from Lexa’s hands and held them up to Finn’s chest before leveling him with an angry glare. “Take these or I’m throwing them in your face.”  
  
He swallowed nervously and brought his hands up to the cups before Clarke turned to Lexa and gently grabbed onto her hand.  
  
“Come with me,” Clarke whispered into Lexa’s ear, “please?”  
  
Against her better judgment Lexa simply looked back at Clarke and took a small step forward in silent consent. She was led through the crowd and out a side door where they continued to walk about thirty feet away from the noise of the gym and into a small courtyard where seniors would often linger between classes and talk with their friends, discussing anything from their upcoming midterm to the funny show they had watched the previous night. Lexa heard her heels clicking on the cement underneath her and mentally scolded herself with each sharp sound for being so gullible, for making herself so vulnerable, only to lose almost every one of her thoughts the moment Clarke stopped and stood directly in front of her.  
  
“Finn’s a jackass,” Clarke said with a sigh, “and you are incredible.”  
  
Tears once again pricked at the backs of Lexa’s eyes as she let Clarke’s words sink in, still not sure what she should be taking as the truth. She felt soft fingers slip between hers on both hands and watched as Clarke blinked a few times as if she was trying to build up the courage to continue speaking. When she finally did, Lexa could barely believe her ears.  
  
“I heard everything he said to you, and there was only one thing that came out of his mouth that wasn’t a lie,” Clarke began slowly. “He _did_ wait too long to ask me to the prom.”  
  
Lexa swallowed and nodded, understanding that to mean that Clarke had been wanting to go with him all along.  
  
“But I’m glad he did,” Clarke clarified. “I’m glad he waited too long because if he hadn’t I would probably be here with him tonight kicking myself for waiting _way_ too long to admit to myself and to you that... I like you.”  
  
And right at that moment time seemed to stop. Not daring to even breathe, Lexa started back into glistening blue eyes and tried to replay everything she had just heard to make sure she had heard it right. Clarke liked her. Clarke liked her. Clarke liked her? She felt a small squeeze around her fingers as Clarke stepped close enough for her breath to spill over Lexa’s lips and continued moving in just a fraction closer with each passing moment until her lips were hovering over Lexa’s in an unspoken request. Lexa felt her eyes close on their own accord and froze the moment she felt Clarke’s lips on her own.  
  
Only a few seconds passed before Lexa felt herself finally melt into the touch, a captive breath rushing out of her nose as she let the sweetest of reliefs spill over every one of her senses, and she felt Clarke mold herself even deeper into her body as they stood unmoving for what seemed like forever and only a split second at the same time before Lexa felt her lips being pulled into a languid pop as they finally separated. With her eyes still closed and a few ragged breaths seeping from her parted mouth, Lexa stood firmly planted in the moment for a few seconds before her eyelids fluttered open to be met with the sight of Clarke still there, still right there in front of her, looking back at her with what Lexa knew was the most beautiful smile she had ever seen in her lifetime. She couldn’t help but pull her own lips into a sated grin as she suppressed the urge to giggle in response to the multitude of emotions swirling around inside of her before taking a deep breath and speaking.  
  
“I like you too, Clarke.”  
  
And as quickly as they had rushed outside to steal a moment away from the action, they were walking back into the party, hand in hand, with a renewed vigor for the long night ahead and a renewed hope for their journey together wherever it may take them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the fluffiness of a fluffy little bunny ♥ I loved this world so much that I'm considering writing a sequel if there's enough interest, so let me know in the comments below as well as your thoughts if you'd like :)
> 
> I treasure your comments and always take the time to respond to each of you, so if you feel like sharing something about the story, the current chapter, want to ask a question, or all of the above... you are more than welcome to do that below! Thank you as always for reading.
> 
> (Find me on Twitter @MsDorisDaisy)


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